🔗 Share this article

Two men have been detained as a component of an investigation into the tipping of several thousand of tons of waste in a open field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement reported that a man in his late sixties was arrested at a dwelling in Andover, Hampshire, while a 54-year-old was arrested in Slough, Berkshire in association with the enormous mound of waste dumped near Kidlington.

These detentions come after a previous report which exposed the operation of over 500 unlawful tips across the country of England, featuring at a minimum of 11 so-called "large-scale sites" larger than 20,000 metric tons.

A representative for the regulatory agency stated that the detentions were for environment-related and money laundering violations and represented a "vital step" in ongoing probes. Both men have been let go on pre-trial release.

Magnitude of the Issue

The illegal site in Kidlington, situated between the river Cherwell and the A34 highway, is thought to contain around 21,000 tonnes of refuse in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) tall.

This pile of waste is composed of what appears to be processed residential waste, chopped up plastic items, Styrofoam, tires and various everyday items.

It represents just one of 517 illegal dumps throughout England, at a minimum of 11 of which contain over 20,000 tonnes of rubbish. Such sites feature a 280,000-tonne location in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The actual figure of such larger sites is probably to be higher, as the environmental body has in the past stated it does not possess records on tonnage for every illegal dump.

The majority such locations are in agricultural settings, frequently out of sight, and on land that is zoned as agricultural ground.

Organized Operations

Law enforcement report numerous are operated by organized crime groups, who are earning profit by charging far less than lawful operators to take and landfill waste.

Businesses have to be liable for gate fees to use licensed disposal sites, based on the amount and category of waste they are trying to dispose of, and a waste tax is also applied at just over £126 per metric ton.

Local Anger

Preparatory operations to remove the Kidlington area location commenced recently following fears over the threat of combustion and the impact that would have on the close-by A-road.

A commercial waste removal contractor has been awarded the contract to handle the area over the following 12 months period at a expense of £9.6m.

An compliance officer for the national regulatory unit stated that the authority would be looking to recoup the remediation funds under asset recovery legislation from anyone successfully convicted at the end of its current investigation.

She noted that this week's arrests would help "push the inquiry forward" and enable authorities to "follow more avenues to determine exactly what occurred and who was a party to it".

"The unlawful tip at Kidlington was an appalling and deliberate affront on our environment and the authorities share the community's outrage at this horrific crime," she remarked.

A government official supported the detentions, stating: "This unlawful deposit of rubbish at the site is utterly appalling and has resulted in significant detriment to the natural world and upset to the nearby population.

"The authorities is committed to stamping out this kind of criminality across the nation, by augmenting financing to tackle illegal dumping, recruiting more officers and implementing tougher measures and fines for those who flout the regulations."

The arrests were executed on the specified day by officers from a dedicated organised crime squad and come after an earlier arrest of a man in his thirties from the Guildford area in the autumn. He was set free pending more inquiries.