Whether you love them or hate them, data centres are on the rise in Slough.

More and more of the large data warehouses are popping up across the borough and there are more to come.

While pivotal for day-to-day life - from processing financial transactions, to the data on our phones and government secrets - data centres have previously come under fire for their large presence and relatively small workforce.

In December The Observer took a look inside Equinix's data centre on Buckingham Avenue.

Fenced off like a fortress, the building is monitored 24/7, with backup generators in case of power cuts and water cooling throughout the building to fight against heat being emitted from the IT equipment.

READ MORE: What are data centres? A look inside one of Slough's powerhouses

On Wednesday, May 29, Slough Borough Council gave the green light for SEGRO to demolish six buildings to make way for a further two data centres.

On the same day, Buckinghamshire Council granted SEGRO permission for a further data centre in Iver's Thorney Business Park.

In the applicant's speech during Slough Borough Council's planning committee meeting, the plans were described as 'trailblazing in terms of data centre design'.

The data centre would be visible from Windsor Castle, with Historic England saying the harm will be 'limited' and the scale and colour will mitigate that.

Once built, an estimated 180 full-time jobs will be available, which was described as a 'major investment opportunity in the Slough Trading Estate'.

Any harm will be 'outweighed by demonstrable public benefits'.

The size of the two data centres will be 30,130sqm and 49,700sqm respectively. 

However, the applicant did admit that data centres do employ fewer people than traditional workplaces.

The planning officer added that the plans are: "Deliberately designed to ensure that the scale of the data centres sit comfortably within the general character of the area.

"Fundamentally these are very expensive boxes. These are substantial and difficult things to try and design."

In the meeting, the council pushed the plans through for approval.

Earlier this year Equinix revealed plans for a data centre on the Akzonobel Decorative Paints site on Wexham Road - with a further data centre in Slough earmarked for building this year.

READ MORE: Plans revealed for £100million site sold by Slough Council

On the edge of town, more buildings will soon be demolished in Thorney Business Park, to be replaced with 'a commercial building to comprise data centre use'.

The data centre will be 27,304sqm - the size of six football pitches.