🔗 Share this article

Two individuals have been detained as an element of an probe into the dumping of thousands of tonnes of refuse in a field in Oxfordshire, England.

Authorities stated that a 69-year-old was arrested at a dwelling in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was arrested in the town of Slough in association with the enormous heap of rubbish deposited near Kidlington.

These detentions follow a prior report which revealed the operation of more than 500 unlawful tips in England, including at a minimum of 11 so-called "major sites" larger than 20,000 metric tons.

A spokeswoman for the environmental authorities commented that the apprehensions were for environment-related and proceeds of crime crimes and represented a "crucial step" in active investigations. Both men have been set free on pre-trial release.

Size of the Issue

The dump in Kidlington, located between the river Cherwell and the A34 highway, is thought to hold about 21,000 tons of rubbish in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) in height.

This heap of rubbish is consists of what seems to be sorted household refuse, chopped up plastic items, Styrofoam, tyres and other domestic objects.

It constitutes just one example of 517 unlawful dumps across England, at minimum 11 of which hold in excess of 20,000 tonnes of rubbish. Such sites encompass a 280,000-tonne area in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire county and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The overall number of such bigger locations is likely to be greater, as the regulatory authority has in the past indicated it does not maintain data on volume for every unauthorized dump.

A large proportion of these sites are in rural areas, frequently out of sight, and on land that is zoned as arable land.

Criminal Activity

Authorities report numerous are run by organised crime gangs, who are making profit by demanding far less than legitimate companies to accept and bury garbage.

Companies have to incur site fees to use lawful disposal sites, depending on the volume and type of material they are trying to get rid of, and landfill tax is also levied at just over £126 per tonne.

Local Frustration

Preparatory efforts to remove the Kidlington area dump started in recent weeks due to concerns over the potential of fire and the effect that would have on the close-by A-road.

A commercial waste removal contractor has been awarded the task to deal with the area over the following 12 months at a expense of £9.6m.

An enforcement official for the country's environmental crime unit said that the agency would be seeking to claim back the clean-up costs under confiscation acts from any individual ultimately found guilty at the termination of its current inquiry.

She further stated that this week's detentions would help "drive the investigation forward" and allow officials to "follow more lines of inquiry to determine precisely what occurred and who was involved".

"This unauthorized site at this location was an appalling and intentional attack on our ecology and officials understand the community's anger at this terrible crime," she remarked.

A senior representative supported the actions, commenting: "The illegal tipping of rubbish at Kidlington is disgraceful and has caused significant detriment to the ecology and upset to the nearby population.

"Our administration is pledged to eradicating this category of crime across the nation, by boosting resources to address waste crime, hiring more officers and introducing stricter controls and fines for those who flout the rules."

The apprehensions were executed on Thursday by officers from a regional crime squad and are in addition to an earlier arrest of a 39-year-old from the Surrey region in November. He was set free subject to more inquiries.