Poppies in full bloom - thousands of them - cover the field in a crimson carpet, bobbing and swaying in the summer breeze. A wide Norfolk sky looms overhead, dotted with cotton-wool clouds. It's a spectacular sight. But fast forward six years, and the scene has been transformed beyond recognition. The field has been stripped bare and levelled - transformed from a rural idyll into a barren expanse of sun-baked dirt. Located near the village of Keswick, just south of Norwich, the farmland is being repurposed to serve a new, more lucrative industry: artificial intelligence.Covering seven acres, the Norwich Apex Data Centre is set to become one of the UK's largest data centres, packed with high-tech equipment whirring around the clock to further the Government's vision of an advanced, AI-driven economy. But the plans face a significant roadblock in the form of 7,000 local residents who have signed a petition opposing the new site - among them BBC broadcaster Jake Humphrey. They say the data centre - which on architectural renderings resembles a cross between a warehouse and a multi-storey car park - will ruin the area's rural character, harm wildlife, and create intolerable noise and traffic. The site will use enough energy to power 10,000 homes and draw on local water supplies for cooling, although developers insist it will operate a 'closed-loop' water circulation system that, once full, will not consume any more water. Poppies growing in the field which is proposed to be the site of a new data centre at Keswick near Norwich The first photo was taken in 2020. This is what the site looks like today as it is prepared for development On architectural renderings, the site resembles a cross between a warehouse and a multi-storey car park