500-foot mountain of rubbish sparks alarm in rural Oxfordshire
Two men have been arrested in connection with what is believed to be the largest illegal fly-tipping incident ever discovered in Britain, after an enormous heap of rubbish was found dumped in the Oxfordshire countryside.
The illegal waste site near Kidlington is estimated to contain around 21,000 tonnes of rubbish, forming a mountain of trash stretching roughly 500 feet in length. Clearing the site is expected to cost the Environment Agency about £10 million.
A 69-year-old man was arrested at a property in Andover, Hampshire, and a 54-year-old man was detained in Slough as part of an ongoing investigation. Both are suspected of environmental offences and money laundering linked to the dumping.
According to the Environment Agency, the arrests are part of a wider effort to uncover those responsible for what officials have described as a deliberate and shocking attack on the environment. Emma Viner, an enforcement and investigations manager with the agency’s national environmental crime unit, said authorities will seek to recover the clean-up costs from anyone successfully prosecuted.
She condemned the site as an appalling act that has severely harmed the environment and caused distress to nearby residents. She also stressed that the government is increasing resources to fight waste crime, including additional funding, more enforcement officers and stricter checks and penalties.
Local politicians have strongly criticised the scale of the dumping. In November, Liberal Democrat MP Calum Miller raised the issue in Parliament, warning that the vast pile of rubbish risked becoming an environmental disaster.
He said estimates from Cherwell District Council suggested the clean-up bill could exceed the council’s entire yearly budget. Describing the location as an unlicensed and illegal waste site, he labelled the situation “pollution on a grotesque scale”.
Miller warned that organised criminal groups are responsible for large-scale illegal dumping across the country and urged swift government action before harmful substances seep into nearby rivers and cause further environmental damage.
