COMPLEX ISSUE
Captain Tom’s daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore fights order to tear down spa after ‘building it in name of hero’s charity’
CAPTAIN Tom's daughter is fighting to keep the pool and spa complex she built in her dad's name after she was ordered to tear it down.
Hannah Ingram-Moore, 52, and husband Colin have been accused of using the hero fundraiser's name to build the 50ft by 20ft pool house equipped with changing rooms, toilets and showers.
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The couple told planners they wanted an office for The Captain Tom Foundation at their £1.2million home.
But The Sun revealed they then built the unauthorised spa and pool complex in their garden, which Hannah and Colin have been ordered to tear down.
Bedfordshire Council confirmed the couple are appealing against the order in a statement.
They said: "An enforcement notice requiring the demolition of the now-unauthorised building was issued.
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"And this is now subject to an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate."
Plans for the L-shaped building at the seven-bed mansion in Marston Moretaine were given the green light in 2021.
They had applied in their own names for planning — but used the foundation’s name in the design and access and heritage statement.
The statement claimed the building was to be used partly "in connection with The Captain Tom Foundation and its charitable objectives".
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A subsequent 2022 retrospective application - which is sought after something has already been built - to extend the originally approved building to form a C-shape, containing a spa pool, was refused by the planning authority.
The structure was referred to as The Captain Tom Building and described as "a new building for use by the occupiers", aka Hannah and Colin.
The Captain Tom Foundation is no longer receiving donations amid an ongoing investigation by the Charity Commission.
A spokesperson said: "At this moment in time, the sole focus of The Captain Tom Foundation is to ensure that it cooperates fully with the ongoing Statutory Inquiry by the Charity Commission.
"As a result, The Captain Tom Foundation is not presently actively seeking any funding from donors."
The charity's trustees have also spoken out against the complex - insisting they were left in the dark.
The trustees said: “At no time were The Captain Tom Foundation’s independent trustees aware of planning permissions made by Mr and Mrs Ingram-Moore purporting to be in the foundation’s name.
"Had they been aware of any applications, the independent trustees would not have authorised them.”
Capt Tom lifted spirits during the first Covid lockdown by walking laps of his garden in the run-up to his 100th birthday.
He raised almost £39million for the NHS.
The WW2 veteran was knighted, honoured with an RAF flypast and received 225,000 100th birthday cards.
He died of Covid in February 2021.
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