Demolition of Captain Tom’s family’s spa begins

Workmen were seen arriving at the home of Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband Colin

The demolition of an unauthorised spa pool block at the £1.2 million home of the family of Captain Sir Tom Moore appears to have started.

Workmen were seen arriving at the home of Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband Colin, in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire, on Tuesday.

Pictured stacked up outside the seven-bedroom home of Captain Tom’s daughter and her family were a number of black bin bags, an exercise bike and dulux paint, as reported by The Sun.

Ms Ingram-Moore and her partner lost an appeal against an order to remove the Captain Tom Foundation Building in the grounds of the property after a hearing in October.

Inspector Diane Fleming ruled in November last year that the spa block must be demolished within three months, by February 7.

The family had six weeks in which the appeal decision could be challenged in the High Court, but failed to do so.

Hannah Ingram-Moore and the family of Captain Tom begin the long awaited spa clear out ahead of its imminent demolition (Spartacus/SplashNews.com)

A Central Bedfordshire Council spokesperson said: “The inspector set a deadline of three months from the date of the decision for the building to be demolished and the council will be reviewing the onsite position on February 8 2024.”

Planning permission had been granted for an L-shaped building in the grounds of the family home, but the planning authority refused a subsequent retrospective application in 2022 for a larger C-shaped building containing a spa pool.

Central Bedfordshire Council issued an enforcement notice in July 2023 requiring the demolition of the “unauthorised building”, and the Planning Inspectorate dismissed an appeal against this.

The home of Hannah Ingram-Moore, the daughter of the late Captain Sir Tom Moore (PA)

During a hearing in October, chartered surveyor James Paynter, for the appellants, said the spa pool had “the opportunity to offer rehabilitation sessions for elderly people in the area”.

But Ms Fleming’s written decision concluded the “scale and massing” of the building had resulted in harm to the grade II-listed Old Rectory – the family’s home.

In an interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV which aired in October last year, Ms Ingram-Moore said she had “regret” over the building of a spa and pool complex at their home. “We have to accept that we made a decision, and it was probably the wrong one,” she said.

Captain Sir Tom Moore rose to fame when he raised money for the NHS by walking laps of his garden (Joe Giddens/PA) (PA Archive)

The foundation is currently the subject of an investigation by the Charity Commission, amid concerns about its management and independence from Sir Tom’s family.

The charity watchdog opened a case into the foundation shortly after the 100-year-old died in 2021, and launched its inquiry in June 2022.

Scott Stemp, representing Ms Ingram-Moore and her husband, said at the appeal hearing that the foundation “is to be closed down following an investigation by the Charity Commission”.

Hannah Ingram-Moore, the daughter of the late Captain Sir Tom Moore, with husband Colin (left) and son Benjie (right) (Joe Giddens/PA Wire)

Last year, The Independent revealed that £54,039 was paid from the foundation to two companies run by Ms Ingram-Moore and her husband.

It also transpired that Mrs Ingram-Moore last year admitted keeping £800,000 from three books the late army veteran had written, despite the prologue of one of them suggesting the money would go to charity.

Sir Tom raised £38.9 million for the NHS, including gift aid, by walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday, at the height of the first national Covid-19 lockdown in April 2020.

He was knighted by the late Queen during a unique open-air ceremony at Windsor Castle in the summer of that year. He died in February 2021.

The Independent has contacted the Ingram-Moores for comment.

Additional reporting by PA