🔗 Share this article

Two men have been arrested as a component of an inquiry into the dumping of many thousands of metric tons of rubbish in a field in Oxfordshire.

Officials reported that a 69-year-old was apprehended at a residence in the town of Andover, while a man in his fifties was taken into custody in Slough in association with the huge heap of rubbish tipped near Kidlington, Oxfordshire.

These detentions come after a previous investigation which uncovered the presence of more than 500 unlawful dumps throughout England, including at a minimum of 11 so-called "large-scale sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A spokeswoman for the regulatory body commented that the apprehensions were for environmental and proceeds of crime offences and were a "vital step" in active probes. Both men have been set free on bail.

Size of the Problem

The dump in the Kidlington area, positioned between the river Cherwell and the A34, is thought to hold approximately 21,000 tons of rubbish in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) high.

This mound of rubbish is made up of what looks to be treated residential waste, fragmented plastic items, polystyrene, tires and other domestic objects.

It constitutes just one example of 517 unauthorized sites in the country, at least 11 of which are estimated to hold over 20,000 metric tons of waste. These feature a 280,000-tonne area in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne areas in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The overall amount of such larger sites is probably to be greater, as the environmental body has earlier acknowledged it does not possess records on volume for every unauthorized tip.

A large proportion of sites are in countryside locations, frequently hidden, and on land that is zoned as agricultural property.

Organised Activity

Police say a significant number are run by organised crime gangs, who are generating cash by asking for far less than legitimate companies to accept and landfill garbage.

Businesses have to be liable for site fees to use licensed disposal sites, depending on the amount and type of refuse they are trying to dispose of, and a disposal levy is also levied at just over £126 per metric ton.

Public Outrage

Preparation operations to clean up the Kidlington location began earlier this month amid worries over the threat of blaze and the impact that would have on the adjacent A-road.

A commercial clean-up contractor has been granted the task to remediate the area over the following 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An enforcement officer for the government environmental crime division stated that the authority would be seeking to recoup the remediation expenses under confiscation laws from anyone prosecuted at the conclusion of its current inquiry.

She noted that the recent apprehensions would help "push the inquiry forward" and permit officials to "follow more leads to ascertain exactly what occurred and who was implicated".

"This unauthorized tip at the site was an atrocious and deliberate affront on our ecology and the authorities share the public's anger at this terrible crime," she remarked.

A government representative welcomed the actions, stating: "This illegal dumping of rubbish at Kidlington is disgraceful and has resulted in significant harm to the environment and upset to the surrounding residents.

"Our authorities is dedicated to stamping out this type of criminality in the country, by increasing funds to combat environmental crime, employing more officers and enacting stricter measures and fines for those who break the regulations."

The detentions were carried out on Thursday by agents from a regional serious crime team and come after an prior arrest of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area region in the autumn. He was set free subject to further investigations.