Captain Tom Moore’s family will be forced to demolish their spa pool after losing a planning appeal row.

Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband Colin applied in 2021 for permission to build a Captain Tom Foundation Building in the grounds of their home in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire.

An L-shaped building was given the green light to be used partly “in connection with The Captain Tom Foundation and its charitable objectives”, but this was replaced with an application for a larger C-shaped building in 2022 containing a spa pool which was refused.

Only the C-shaped annex was built, and is largely completed just yards from where Captain Sir Tom Moore walked 100 laps to raise £38.9 million for NHS charities at the height of the pandemic.

Fight to keep spa pool rejected

Central Bedfordshire council issued an enforcement notice last month requiring the demolition of the “now-unauthorised building”, prompting the Ingram-Moores to fight against it by filing an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.

The couple lost this appeal on Tuesday morning, meaning they will now be forced to demolish the spa pool. 

It is the latest blow for the beleaguered charity.

During the appeal hearings, it emerged that the Captain Tom Foundation is to shut down following an investigation by the Charity Commission, with no particular reasons given by the couple for its closing.

Charity Commission inquiry

The couple have insisted a spa pool, gym and office complex at their former Grade II rectory in Marston Moretaine was meant to help elderly people overcome loneliness and rehabilitate after illness.

It comes as Mrs Ingram-Moore, 52, revealed last month that her family had kept £800,000 in profits from three of her father’s books, published separately to the foundation.

In an interview with TalkTV’s Piers Morgan, she said her father wanted the family to benefit from his books, adding that there was no suggestion anyone buying them thought they were donating to charity.

In July, The Charity Commission launched an inquiry into the foundation after identifying concerns about the charity’s management and independence from Sir Tom’s family.