Demolition of spa complex at Captain Tom Moore’s family home inches closer as workmen put up fences in preparation
DEMOLITION of Captain Tom Moore's family spa complex is imminent as workmen set up on site.
Hannah Ingram-Moore watched as her father's possession were carted out of the luxury £200,000 Bedfordshire property in Marston Moretaine ahead of its destruction.
Boxes of Captain Tom's achievement plaques including a BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award and Guinness Book of Records certificate were seen being wheeled out in a green garden trolley.
Paintings and a model aircraft were among other items spotted in the clear out ahead of demo-day set for February 7.
Today, workmen were seen erecting blue tarpaulins around the spa complex, which sits opposite Hannah's £1.2million mansion, and more belongings were removed.
Heaps of black bin bags and unwanted furniture have been snapped collecting outside, alongside an abandoned running machine and pots of paint.
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It comes as Hannah and husband Colin fought to overturn a council decision to tear down the complex in a long-running dispute.
We have to accept that we made a decision, and it was probably the wrong one."
Hannah Ingram-Moore
They had six weeks to save the "unauthorised" building after losing a court case in October - but failed to launch an appeal.
The Planning Inspectorate previously ruled the building will have to be pulled down in three months as it was built illegally.
Hannah and her husband were initially granted permission from Central Bedfordshire Council to build a small charity office for the Captain Tom Foundation in 2021.
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The couple applied in their own names for planning — but used the foundation’s name in the design and access and heritage statement.
Their statement claimed the building was to be used partly "in connection with The Captain Tom Foundation and its charitable objectives".
'The building is wholly different to the application'
A subsequent retrospective application in 2022 to extend the originally approved building to form a C-shape, containing a spa pool, was then 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 married couple created a poolhouse with changing rooms, toilets and showers to sit alongside their £1.2million home.
The court heard this later "evolved" to include the spa pool.
Chartered surveyor James Paynter, speaking for the family, suggested it could be used for "rehabilitation sessions for elderly people in the area".
But Richard Proctor, Planning Enforcement Team Leader, said: “The Council’s position is that the building is wholly different to the application.”
Meanwhile, Inspector Diane Fleming said the "scale and massing" of the building had "resulted in harm" to The Old Rectory - the Grade II listed family home in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire.
As well as tearing the spa down, the family will need to remove all building materials and restore the land to its "former condition".
The court was also told the Foundation will be shut down when a probe by the Charity Commission is over.
How Captain Sir Tom Moore rose to fame & his daughter's controversies
- March 2020 - D-Day veteran Captain Tom Moore walks 100 laps around his Bedfordshire garden before his 100th birthday, raising £30million for the NHS during the first lockdown.
- April 2020 - Captain Tom reaches No. 1 in the charts with his cover of 'You'll Never Walk Alone'. He receives 100,000 cards for his 100th birthday, which is marked with a Battle of Britain flypast. A train is named after him.
- July 2020 - Captain Tom is knighted by the Queen in a special private ceremony at Windsor Castle.
- September 2020 - Hannah Ingram-Moore launches the Captain Tom Foundation to combat loneliness.
- December 2020 - Drones swarm into the shape of Captain Tom's face at the New Year's Eve firework display in London.
- February 2021 - Captain Sir Tom Moore dies after catching covid-19.
- February 2022 - The Charity Commission launches a probe into the Captain Tom foundation after it paid £50,000 to companies run by Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband Colin.
- July 2023 - The foundation stops accepting donations. Planning chiefs order Hannah to tear down an unauthorised spa at her Bedfordshire home. The building had been approved to be used "in connection with the Captain Tom Foundation and its charitable objectives". But a larger building with a spa pool was built instead and was denied retrospective planning permission. Hannah appeals.
- September 2023 - accounts reveal Hannah received more than £70,000 to head the foundation.
- October 2023 - Hannah loses her appeal and is ordered to demolish the spa and restore the garden to its original condition.
- January 2023 - Demolition work begins
Hannah previously spoke about the ordeal in an interview with TalkTV's Piers Morgan.
She said: "We have to accept that we made a decision, and it was probably the wrong one."
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The family also confessed to pocketing money from the £39million NHS fund-raising veteran in the bombshell interview.
A tearful Hannah revealed they kept £800,000 from the three books her dad had written - claiming he had wanted them to keep the profits.
