A MASSIVE project which could provide IT facilities for banks and major companies might be built next to Didcot Power Station.

IT firm CloudHQ UK wants to build on vacant land to the west of Didcot B Power Station.

According to planning documents, it wants to build a data centre and has already paid £192,000 as part of the multi-million pound proposal.

A data centre is a specialist building that provides IT needs for companies looking to remotely store data in state of the art facilities.

The company wants to build at the northern part of Milton Park and employ up to 75 specialist staff.

Its chosen site sits within the Didcot Growth Accelerator Zone and although in the Vale of White Horse district, it is close to the border with South Oxfordshire.

It would be hidden from residents in Sutton Courtenay by the hedges and trees already in place, CloudHQ UK said.

High security would be installed across the site and it will be in operation 24 hours a day. CCTV cameras will be fixed on top of a high security fence at 40m intervals.

‘Significant power’ would be required to keep the facility running, and it is ‘essential’ for it to have its own power generator in case of a power cut.

Chillers would also be installed to keep the computer equipment at a steady temperature.

The site would also have 236 new parking spaces, along with 72 bike spaces once the project has been completed.

The current border around the site of hedgerows, trees and livestock fencing would be retained. A 3m fence would be set back from the northern boundary of the site.

The land was previously used as a large distribution warehouse.

In its application CloudHQ UK said the ‘overall appearance and materials will reflect the usage...and neutral colours will be chosen to soften the impact’.

It said that signage near the building will be minimal because large corporations using the facilities ‘normally do not want to draw attention to their operations’.

But it will ‘adopt sustainable design practices and minimise impact upon the environment where possible’.

Staff at the site would work on shifts, with about 20 to 25 people working at one time.

But the firm said that number could rise as high as 75 when they change over at the end of a shift.

Outline planning permission was previously granted by Vale council for two warehouse buildings at the site in 2014.