TWO men have been arrested after a 150-metre long mountain of waste was dumped near a river in Oxfordshire.

An investigation into the waste tipping alongside the A34 in Kidlington, near the River Cherwell, resulted in the arrests after the Environmental Agency (EA) declared a critical incident.

The men, a 69-year-old arrested in Andover and a 54-year-old apprehended in Slough on Thursday, are facing alleged environmental and money laundering offences as part of the probe.

Both have been released on conditional bail as the investigation continues, while another 39-year-old man from Surrey was also released under the same conditions in November.

The first reports of illegal dumping were made in early July last year, and continued into October when the EA applied for a court order to shut down the site.

Emma Viner, from the EA’s National Environmental Crime Unit, called the tip “an atrocious and deliberate attack on our environment, and the EA shares the community’s anger at this horrific crime.”