🔗 Share this article

A pair of individuals have been detained as part of an probe into the dumping of many thousands of tons of rubbish in a field in Oxfordshire.

Officials indicated that a man in his late sixties was detained at a property in Andover, Hampshire, while a 54-year-old was arrested in the town of Slough in connection with the enormous pile of garbage dumped near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These detentions follow a previous revelation which revealed the operation of more than 500 illegal tips across England, including at least 11 so-called "super sites" larger than 20,000 tonnes.

A spokeswoman for the regulatory body said that the apprehensions were for environment-related and money laundering violations and constituted a "vital step" in active probes. Both men have been let go on bail.

Scale of the Situation

The illegal site in Kidlington, located between the river Cherwell and the A34, is estimated to house around 21,000 tonnes of waste in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) tall.

This mound of waste is composed of what seems to be sorted residential refuse, fragmented plastic materials, polystyrene, tyres and assorted household objects.

It is just one of 517 unauthorized tips across the country, at least 11 of which hold over 20,000 tonnes of waste. These feature a 280,000-tonne area in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne site in the county of Kent.

The actual number of such bigger locations is expected to be greater, as the environment body has earlier stated it does not possess data on weight for each unlawful tip.

Most these sites are in countryside areas, frequently concealed, and on land that should be agricultural land.

Criminal Operations

Law enforcement say numerous are run by organized crime groups, who are generating cash by charging far less than legitimate operators to receive and bury garbage.

Companies have to be liable for disposal fees to use legitimate waste facilities, depending on the amount and nature of material they are trying to get rid of, and a disposal levy is also charged at just over £126 per metric ton.

Local Outrage

Initial operations to remove the Kidlington area dump began in recent weeks following fears over the threat of blaze and the impact that would have on the nearby major road.

A commercial waste clearance firm has been awarded the contract to remediate the area over the following 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An enforcement officer for the government regulatory division said that the agency would be aiming to recoup the clearance costs under confiscation legislation from any party ultimately convicted at the termination of its active investigation.

She noted that this week's arrests would help "move the inquiry forward" and enable the agency to "follow more avenues to ascertain in detail what transpired and who was a party to it".

"This illegal site at Kidlington was an appalling and calculated attack on our ecology and the authorities understand the local outrage at this terrible crime," she remarked.

A cabinet official supported the actions, commenting: "The illegal deposit of rubbish at the site is disgraceful and has caused significant detriment to the environment and anguish to the local residents.

"Our government is pledged to stamping out this category of crime throughout the UK, by augmenting resources to tackle waste crime, hiring more officers and implementing more severe measures and sanctions for those who violate the regulations."

The arrests were made on a recent Thursday by officers from a regional organised crime squad and come after an previous apprehension of a man in his thirties from the Surrey region in November. He was set free pending more investigations.