Captain Sir Tom Moore's daughter ordered to demolish home spa

Captain Sir Tom Moore became famous for his fundraising efforts during the first coronavirus lockdown

The daughter of Capt Sir Tom Moore has been told to knock down an unauthorised building used as a spa after a planning application was rejected.

Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband used the Captain Tom Foundation name on the first plans for the building, with later revised plans turned down.

The charity is also no longer taking donations or making payments due to an ongoing inquiry into its finances.

Ms Ingram-Moore and the foundation have been contacted for comment.

Central Bedfordshire Council said the demolition order was subject to an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.

The Army veteran walked 100 laps of his Bedfordshire garden at the start of the first coronavirus lockdown in 2020, raising £33m for NHS Charities Together.

Capt Sir Tom, who was born in Keighley, West Yorkshire, died in 2021 aged 100.

Capt Sir Tom won the nation's hearts with his fundraising walk, which took in 100 laps of his garden

After he became an international figure, his family set up a separate charity in his name.

In a statement on the Captain Tom Foundation website, the charity said its "sole focus...is to ensure that it cooperates fully with the on-going statutory inquiry by the Charity Commission".

"As a result, The Captain Tom Foundation is not presently actively seeking any funding from donors. Accordingly, we have also taken the decision to close all payment channels whilst the statutory inquiry remains open," it said.

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The statement added that when the inquiry concluded it would "be in a better position to make a decision in relation to its future".

When the inquiry was started a year ago, the Charity Commission said "concerns have mounted" over the charity and independence from a business run by Capt Sir Tom's family.

Capt Sir Tom's daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, set up a charity following the veteran's death

Hannah Ingram-Moore is the younger of Capt Sir Tom's two daughters and lived with the Army veteran at the family home in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire.

It has emerged the Ingram-Moores requested planning permission for a "Captain Tom Foundation Building", which was "for use by occupiers... and Captain Tom Foundation", according to documents submitted to Central Bedfordshire Council in August 2021.

The local authority granted permission for the single-storey structure to be built on the tennis courts at the Grade II-listed home, as first reported in The Sun.

Then, in February 2022, the family submitted revised plans for the already partly constructed building, which called it the "Captain Tom Building".

The plans included a spa pool, toilets and a kitchen, which the Design & Access and Heritage Statement said was "for private use".

In November 2022, Central Bedfordshire Council refused the retrospective planning permission for the revised plans.

A council spokesperson said: "An enforcement notice requiring the demolition of the now-unauthorised building was issued and this is now subject to an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate."

The Captain Tom Moore Foundation did not respond to the BBC's request for comment on the planning application, but told The Sun the trustees were unaware and "would not have authorised" the plans had they known.