🔗 Share this article

Two individuals have been taken into custody as an element of an probe into the tipping of many thousands of tons of refuse in a field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Officials reported that a 69-year-old was apprehended at a residence in the town of Andover, while a 54-year-old was detained in the town of Slough in association with the massive mound of waste tipped near Kidlington.

These apprehensions follow a previous report which uncovered the presence of in excess of 500 illegal sites throughout England, featuring at minimum 11 so-called "large-scale sites" larger than 20,000 tons.

A official for the environment agency said that the apprehensions were for ecological and financial violations and represented a "vital step" in active inquiries. The apprehended men have been set free on bail.

Magnitude of the Problem

The illegal site in near Kidlington, positioned between the River Cherwell and the A34, is believed to hold around 21,000 tonnes of refuse in a heap which is up to 150m (490ft) lengthwise and 6m (20ft) high.

This heap of garbage is made up of what looks to be sorted domestic refuse, chopped up plastic items, Styrofoam, tires and assorted household articles.

It represents just one of 517 illegal tips in England, at minimum 11 of which hold more than 20,000 tons of garbage. They include a 280,000-tonne location in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne dump in Kent.

The total number of such major dumps is expected to be greater, as the regulatory body has earlier indicated it does not maintain data on tonnage for all unauthorized site.

Most sites are in agricultural areas, frequently out of sight, and on land that is intended to be farm ground.

Organized Activity

Police report a significant number are operated by criminal organizations, who are earning money by demanding significantly less than legitimate firms to accept and landfill waste.

Firms have to be liable for disposal fees to use legitimate landfill sites, based on the amount and nature of refuse they are trying to discard, and landfill tax is also levied at just over £126 per ton.

Community Outrage

Preparatory work to remove the Kidlington site started earlier this month amid concerns over the threat of blaze and the consequences that would have on the close-by highway.

A private clean-up firm has been given the job to remediate the area over the following 12 months period at a price of £9.6m.

An investigations official for the national environment unit said that the body would be aiming to recover the clean-up costs under asset recovery legislation from anyone found guilty at the termination of its active inquiry.

She added that the recent apprehensions would help "push the probe forward" and allow authorities to "investigate more avenues to determine in detail what happened and who was a party to it".

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

A government minister praised the arrests, commenting: "This illegal deposit of garbage at the site is appalling and has led to considerable detriment to the ecology and anguish to the nearby population.

"Our government is dedicated to eliminating this type of illegal activity across the UK, by augmenting resources to combat waste crime, recruiting more staff and introducing tougher controls and penalties for those who break the rules."

The apprehensions were carried out on the specified day by agents from a regional crime squad and follow an prior detention of a 39-year-old from the Guildford region in the autumn. He was set free awaiting additional investigations.