Captain Sir Tom Moore: Appeal against demolition of home spa building

The spa (the C-shaped building to the right of the pond) is at the home where Capt Sir Tom Moore walked 100 laps of the garden in 2020, raising £33m for NHS Charities Together

An appeal has been lodged against a demolition order for a home spa at Captain Sir Tom Moore's home, the Planning Inspectorate confirmed.

A building for the use of the Captain Tom Foundation in the grounds of the family home in Bedfordshire had initially been approved.

Revised plans including a swimming pool were then turned down and the council ordered the structure to be razed.

The inspectorate said the appeal would be determined at an in-person hearing.

Army veteran Captain Sir Tom raised £38m for NHS Charities Together by walking 100 laps of his garden in Marston Moretaine at the start of the coronavirus lockdown in 2020.

Capt Sir Tom won the nation's hearts with his fundraising effort, made with the aid of his walking frame on wheels

After his death, when he was aged 100, in 2021, the Captain Tom Foundation was set up by his family to support "causes close to Captain Sir Tom's heart".

The veteran fundraiser's daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband initially received planning permission for the building in August 2021

The building proposed by the fundraiser's daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband was originally approved by Central Bedfordshire Council for the use of the occupiers and the foundation in August 2021.

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It had been partly constructed when revised plans were submitted in February 2022, which included a spa pool, toilets and a kitchen "for private use".

The revised plans for what was called the Captain Tom Building were then turned down by the council in November 2022.

Neighbours whose gardens are next to the now-unauthorised building have called it an "eyesore".

Neighbour Jilly Bozdogan said the home she shared with her 99-year-old mother now gave them a view of the spa, rather than just trees

The council said that an enforcement notice requiring the demolition of the building had been issued.

The Planning Inspectorate has confirmed that an appeal against the order had been received and validated and that a planning inspector would be appointed ahead of a formal hearing.

A hearing date and venue were still to be scheduled, but the inspectorate said it would "fully consider the evidence submitted at the appeal and take account of current planning legislation, policy and guidance".

After an appeal decision was issued, there would be a period of six weeks during which it could be challenged in the High Court.

Neither the Captain Tom Foundation nor Ms Ingram-Moore have responded to the BBC's request for comment on the planning application.

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

NHS Charities Together has stressed that the £38m Captain Sir Tom raised was "not under investigation" and the money had "funded thousands of projects".