Arrests made over supersized illegal rubbish dump

Two men have been arrested as part of an investigation into the dumping of thousands of tonnes of rubbish in a field in Oxfordshire.

The Environment Agency (EA) said a 69-year-old man was arrested at a property in Andover, Hampshire, while a 54-year-old man has been arrested in Slough in connection with the massive pile of rubbish tipped near Kidlington.

The arrests come a week after a BBC investigation revealed there were more than 500 illegal tips across England, including at least 11 so-called "super sites" bigger than 20,000 tonnes.

An EA spokeswoman told the BBC the arrests were for environmental and money laundering offences and were a "vital step" in ongoing investigations.

Both men have been released on bail.

The dump in Kidlington, between the River Cherwell and the A34, is thought to contain approximately 21,000 tonnes of waste in a pile which is up to 150m (490ft) long and 6m (20ft) high.

The mound of rubbish is made up of what appears to be processed domestic waste, shredded plastics, polystyrene, tyres and other household items.

It is just one of 517 illegal dumps across England, at least 11 of which contain more than 20,000 tonnes of waste. They include a 280,000-tonne site in Cheshire, two 50,000-tonne sites in Lancashire and Cornwall and a 36,000-tonne tip in Kent.

The total number of such larger sites is likely to be higher, as the Environment Agency has previously told the BBC it does not hold data on tonnage for every illegal tip.

Most sites are in countryside locations, often hidden, and on what should be agricultural land.

Police say many are run by organised crime gangs, who are making cash by charging much less than legitimate operators to take and bury waste.

Businesses have to pay site fees to use legitimate licensed landfill sites, depending on the amount and type of waste they are trying to get rid of, and landfill tax is also charged at just over £126 per tonne.

Preparation work to clear the Kidlington site started earlier this month amid concerns over the risk of fire and the impact that would have on the nearby A-road.

A private waste clearance firm has been given the contract to deal with the site over the next 12 months at a cost of £9.6m.

Emma Viner, enforcement and investigations manager for the EA's national environmental crime unit, told the BBC that the agency would be looking to recover the clearance costs under the Proceeds of Crime Act from anyone successfully prosecuted at the end of its ongoing investigation.

She added that this week's arrests would help "drive the investigation forward" and allow the EA to "follow more lines of inquiry to understand exactly what happened and who was involved".

"The illegal dump at Kidlington was an atrocious and deliberate attack on our environment and the Environment Agency shares the community's anger at this horrific crime," she said.

Environment secretary Emma Reynolds welcomed the arrests, adding: "The illegal dumping of waste at Kidlington is appalling and has caused significant damage to the environment and distress to the local community.

"The government is committed to stamping out this type of criminality across the country, by boosting funds to tackle waste crime, hiring more officers and introducing tougher checks and penalties for those who break the law."

The arrests were made on Thursday by officers from the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU) and follow an earlier arrest of a 39-year-old man from the Guildford area in November. He was released pending further enquiries.