Angela Rayner is trying to force through a “massive” data centre in a quaint and quiet rural village – despite local decision-makers already furiously rejecting the proposal.

The Labour Party MP for Ashton-under-Lyme is keen to push through the construction of the data centre in Abbots Langley in Hertfordshire, which would hold information for the NHS and financial sectors, as well as keep data safe from cyber-attacks.

However, local residents are outraged, and with the backing of the local Three Bridges council, plan to fight the move all the way to the bitter end.

Logistics manager Josh Fung, who lives in the village with his wife and small children, accused the Labour deputy leader of trying to “overturn the local decision” to reject the centre’s construction.

He told The Telegraph: “Our houses were only built four years ago. We knew nothing about this. When the developers first tried to get planning permission, the whole project was rejected by the council.”

James Felstead, 57, who lives across from the proposed site with his wife Sarah, said building the centre in the field would be like “welcoming a vampire into your home”. Politicians “just take, take, take”, he added.

He asked why the centre wasn’t being built near land already being used for wind farms or otherwise away from residential properties: “In Scandinavia, they put them beside lakes, to save energy on cooling the servers. Chinese bitcoin miners have stuck stacks of servers next to a hydroelectric dam in Ethiopia… the whole industry is nomadic.”

Earlier this month, the Government re-categorised data centres as Critical National Infrastructure (CNI).

That change of status means that previously rejected planning proposals are being revisited – including at Abbots Langley.

Angela Rayner, who as well as being Deputy PM is Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary, has the final say on any construction.

Residents are seriously concerned that she’ll give the green light to the centre, which would cover more than 84,000 sq metres across two buildings 65ft tall.

Leader of Three Rivers District Council, Stephen Giles-Medhurst, told the Telegraph that the council has employed a KC and three expert witnesses to defend its decision to reject the construction of the centre.