It’s a sun-kissed 26C in Slough, one of London’s more famous satellite towns, and Europe’s largest data centre hub. Monolithic structures, each one purring with noise, rise imposingly over terraced housing and corner shops. They are tall, grey buildings, warehouse-like and almost grand, encircled by electric fencing and security guards. As of 2026, there are 40 in and around Slough Trading Estate. More are on the way. On a global scale, the Berkshire town is second only to Ashburn, Virginia, as a data centre hub.

Slough’s facilities are used for everything from cloud computing to financial transactions and boring old corporate IT to generative AI. “Are they pumping out helpful information, or nude photos of kids?” asks one resident, who asks to remain anonymous.

Geography is one of the foremost reasons for Slough’s influx of data centres. Its position 20 miles west of London gives operators easy access to the City and Canary Wharf, but it boasts more space than anywhere closer.

Slough borough council’s planning documents specifically identify the combination of proximity to London, fibre infrastructure and resilience, and available land. In fact, the town sits directly on top of the internet fibre-optic cables that run across the Atlantic from the US, through Ireland and the UK and on to mainland Europe. “Strategically, it’s one of the most important areas in the world,” James Tyler, UK managing director of data centres giant Equinix, told the BBC.

Yet to some extent, Slough’s newfound place as a haven for data centres has slipped under the radar. It’s still better known as the backdrop to The Office, Ricky Gervais’s pioneering fax machine comedy, and as the subject of John Betjeman’s 1937 poem Slough, in which he invites “friendly bombs” to fall on the town.

The poet was commenting on Slough’s role in the run-up to the Second World War, when it became a cramped, increasingly industrial place. “It isn’t fit for humans now, there isn’t grass to graze a cow,” he wrote.

Today, Slough has 160,000 inhabitants. It’s a busy town, full of grammar schools (four) and home to the Horlicks Quarter, where the old drinks factory was redeveloped into high-end housing, and a 19th-century public park named after the astronomer William Herschel.

It’s on the Elizabeth line, has one of the youngest populations in England — about 28 per cent of residents are under 18 — and is recognised as one of the most ethnically diverse parts of the country.

It’s a revolting one now, too. As of this year, a campaign group, Slough Against Data Centres, has been feverishly protesting the arrival of big tech. Dr Ambily Banerjee founded the group after becoming worried about the impact of data centres on residents and the environment.

“We have almost 40 data centres and more planning applications are being submitted,” she says outside one of the centres. “We are simply asking the council to conduct a cumulative assessment of their impact. I love Slough — it has so much going on, it’s diverse and there’s a real community here. It would be a shame if that was lost.”

Banerjee, who was a research fellow at University College London before moving to pharmaceutical giant GSK, says she acts as a voice for residents, many of whom “don’t have the time or resources to ask burning questions”.

She says: “We’re concerned about the ‘heat island impact’, on noise pollution and the possibility of long-term health issues on residents, such as pollutants being pumped out into the air by diesel generators. These power-guzzling centres use a lot of water too. And they’re being built on green-belt land.” John and Linda Willis, two former television engineers, moved to the outskirts of Slough in 1982, seeing it as a quiet place ideal for their commute into London.

They live near to where Microsoft is planning to build a data centre in the former Langley business centre, a 17-acre site close to the Elizabeth line and Windsor College. Consultation with residents is ongoing and the proposals were brought up at a recent Slough borough council meeting on September 24. “Is there really nowhere else to build these structures, somewhere a little farther away from people?” asks John, looking over his garden fence, which backs onto the countryside.

“For a long time, there were building works happening behind my home. They’ve finished now and the geese have returned. I can hear the birds, the rustle of the grass. I don’t want to hear the whir of a data centre. And where is all this energy coming from to power them? It seems to me like we’re building for the future, but killing the present. If we kill the present, we won’t have a future left. I despair for young people.”

A Microsoft spokesperson said: “Microsoft is working closely with local authorities and residents through an ongoing community consultation and we welcome their feedback through our drop-in sessions and website.”

A spokeswoman for Slough borough council sent the Standard a lengthy statement addressing residents’ concerns, claiming neither electrical nor water supplies would be affected by new data centres.

“The council is of course mindful of the potential environmental impacts of data centres within the borough, as we are of all industries and developments, and must, and do, consider them at great length when proposals are presented to us,” she said. “We thoroughly assess proposals and seek to mitigate and ensure the best environmental (and wider) benefits associated with these developments.

“We are also incredibly aware of the Government’s position which supports the significant growth of this industry, having recently made the decision to approve a hyperscale data centre in the east of the borough which we remain disappointed with.”

The “hyperscale” data centre in question was approved in June. Developer Manor Farm Propco Limited will be able to use a 20-acre green belt site in Slough for the project, which includes battery power storage and a generator. Planning minister Matthew Pennycook, who made the decision on behalf of then housing secretary Steve Reed, said the need for development, a lack of suitable alternative sites and “the needs of the market” were significant in giving the project the green light.

Banerjee, Willis and their fellow campaigners have a difficult task ahead. In the internet age and with AI booming, Slough appears to be where much of our data will exist. All the while, the Labour government, hungry for economic growth, plans to triple data centre output by 2030. There are already 500 in Britain, with one in 10 in Slough Trading Estate.

The Office, based around a paper manufacturer, couldn’t seem more historic, even if it was released only 25 years ago. Gervais said more recently: “I’ll say this about AI: If it starts becoming a burden, switch it off... like we did Nan.”