🔗 Share this article

Two individuals have been arrested as an element of an investigation into the dumping of many thousands of tonnes of refuse in a field in the county of Oxfordshire.

Law enforcement stated that a 69-year-old was arrested at a property in Hampshire's Andover, while a 54-year-old was detained in Slough, Berkshire in connection with the huge heap of rubbish tipped near the area of Kidlington.

These apprehensions follow a prior investigation which exposed the operation of more than 500 illegal tips throughout England, encompassing at least 11 so-called "major sites" greater than 20,000 tonnes.

A spokeswoman for the regulatory authorities stated that the apprehensions were for ecological and proceeds of crime crimes and represented a "key step" in active probes. Both men have been set free on pre-trial release.

Size of the Issue

The tipping ground in Kidlington, situated between the Cherwell River and the A34, is estimated to hold approximately 21,000 metric tons of refuse in a mound which is up to 150m (490ft) in length and 6m (20ft) high.

This heap of garbage is composed of what appears to be sorted residential refuse, fragmented plastic materials, Styrofoam, automobile tires and assorted domestic objects.

It is just a single of 517 unlawful sites in England, at least 11 of which are estimated to hold over 20,000 metric tons of garbage. They feature a 280,000-tonne site in the county of Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire county and Cornwall county and a 36,000-tonne dump in the county of Kent.

The total amount of such larger locations is likely to be greater, as the environmental body has previously indicated it does not hold information on volume for every unauthorized dump.

A large proportion of such locations are in agricultural locations, typically concealed, and on land that is intended to be farm land.

Organized Operations

Law enforcement say numerous are operated by organized crime groups, who are making cash by asking for far less than lawful firms to take and landfill garbage.

Companies have to incur gate fees to use lawful landfill sites, based on the volume and nature of waste they are trying to get rid of, and a disposal levy is also charged at just over £126 per tonne.

Public Outrage

Preparation work to clean up the Kidlington location started recently amid fears over the potential of fire and the consequences that would have on the adjacent A-road.

A commercial clean-up firm has been granted the task to handle the site over the next 12 months at a price of £9.6m.

An enforcement manager for the country's regulatory unit commented that the agency would be aiming to recover the clean-up costs under asset recovery acts from anyone successfully prosecuted at the end of its active case.

She further stated that this week's arrests would help "drive the probe forward" and enable authorities to "investigate more avenues to understand precisely what occurred and who was implicated".

"The unlawful tip at Kidlington was an shocking and intentional affront on our ecology and the authorities share the local outrage at this egregious offence," she said.

A senior representative supported the detentions, stating: "The unauthorized tipping of garbage at this location is utterly appalling and has resulted in significant harm to the environment and distress to the local population.

"Our government is committed to eliminating this category of crime across the UK, by augmenting financing to tackle environmental crime, hiring more staff and introducing more severe controls and sanctions for those who violate the regulations."

The arrests were carried out on the specified day by personnel from a regional serious crime team and are in addition to an prior detention of a man in his thirties from the Surrey region in November. He was released awaiting more enquiries.