🔗 Share this article

A pair of individuals have been arrested as a component of an investigation into the tipping of thousands of tonnes of waste in a rural field in Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement indicated that a 69-year-old was arrested at a property in Hampshire's Andover, while a man in his fifties was arrested in the town of Slough in association with the huge mound of garbage deposited near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These arrests come after a prior investigation which uncovered the operation of over 500 unauthorized sites in England, including at minimum 11 so-called "super sites" greater than 20,000 metric tons.

A spokeswoman for the environment agency stated that the apprehensions were for environment-related and proceeds of crime offences and represented a "vital step" in active inquiries. The apprehended men have been set free on bail.

Size of the Situation

The tipping ground in near Kidlington, positioned between the River Cherwell and the A34, is estimated to contain about 21,000 tons of refuse in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) high.

This mound of rubbish is made up of what appears to be treated household rubbish, shredded plastic materials, expanded polystyrene, tires and assorted domestic objects.

It constitutes just a single of 517 illegal sites across England, at least 11 of which are estimated to hold more than 20,000 metric tons of garbage. Such sites feature a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire county and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne site in the county of Kent.

The actual amount of such bigger locations is probably to be higher, as the environment authority has earlier acknowledged it does not possess data on tonnage for each illegal site.

The majority sites are in agricultural settings, frequently out of sight, and on land that is intended to be arable land.

Organised Activity

Police say numerous are operated by organised crime gangs, who are making money by charging far less than licensed companies to take and landfill garbage.

Firms have to incur site fees to use legitimate landfill sites, depending on the amount and type of refuse they are trying to dispose of, and a disposal levy is also applied at just over £126 per ton.

Community Anger

Initial operations to clean up the Kidlington location started earlier this month following concerns over the risk of blaze and the consequences that would have on the adjacent A-road.

A commercial waste clearance contractor has been awarded the task to handle the site over the next 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An enforcement official for the country's regulatory unit stated that the body would be looking to recover the clean-up funds under proceeds of crime legislation from any individual successfully convicted at the conclusion of its ongoing inquiry.

She added that this week's detentions would help "push the inquiry forward" and enable authorities to "follow more lines of inquiry to determine precisely what happened and who was involved".

"This illegal dump at Kidlington was an shocking and intentional assault on our environment and the authorities empathize with the local outrage at this terrible offence," she stated.

A government official praised the arrests, stating: "The unauthorized dumping of garbage at Kidlington is utterly appalling and has resulted in considerable detriment to the ecology and distress to the nearby community.

"The authorities is dedicated to stamping out this type of crime throughout the country, by boosting resources to address illegal dumping, hiring more officers and enacting stricter measures and fines for those who violate the law."

The apprehensions were executed on Thursday by officers from a dedicated crime squad and come after an earlier apprehension of a man in his thirties from the Surrey area in November. He was set free awaiting additional investigations.