Appeal over unauthorised spa pool building by Captain Tom Moore's family at Marston Moretaine home to be heard today

A apeal over an unauthorised spa facility built at the Grade II listed Bedfordshire property of Captain Sir Tom Moore’s daughter is to be heard today.

If the appeal verdict goes against Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband, Colin, the family will have to demolish the entire facility, remove the building materials and restore the land to its former condition.

Compliance is within three months of the appeal notice taking effect for the demolition and removal of materials, and five months for restoring the site, according to the local authority’s appeal statement.

The family of the World War Two Army veteran lodged an appeal over Central Bedfordshire Council’s demolition order for the building at The Old Rectory, The Green, Marston Moretaine.

Planning permission was granted originally by the local authority in November 2021, but a retrospective application was refused a year later.

A spa pool was built in a detached single-storey building behind the Grade II listed property. Media reports have alleged the family exploited the former Army veteran’s name to build this facility.

But in a TalkTV interview, Colin denied a sum of just over £800,000 came from Capt Tom-themed merchandise, saying: “No, not from merchandise. The bulk of that money came from the three books he wrote with Penguin Random House.”

Asked why that money was excluded from charity income, Hannah replied: “These were my father’s books. He had an agent and they worked on that deal. His wishes were that money would sit in Club Nook (Limited accounts).”

She said that was for the family to keep, explaining there was nothing in the books or the contract which suggested the proceeds would be for the Captain Tom Foundation.

“Remember he wrote these books fairly early on, just as the walk had finished. And they were all signed off and finished by June 2020. They were never anything to do with the charity.”

In response to whether all the money should have gone to charity, Hannah added: “They were my father’s books. He decided what to with the income from them.

“It was his wishes, not ours. He made the decisions about the things he did. We didn’t act for him.”

Pressed on whether with hindsight they would handle the situation differently, Colin answered: “Just because the charity happened to be called Captain Tom Foundation doesn’t mean his assets are all suddenly owned by the charity.”

Ms Ingram-Moore described the purpose of the building as “to allow the community to enjoy it, and that was the heart and soul behind this”.

She said: “It’s not that this is a museum, but our whole purpose was my father couldn’t walk in that amazing resistance pool, which is a 5m by 2m pool, but other people can.

“We’ve a pilates teacher who’s waiting for this to be authorised, so she can do classes for the ageing population.”

Hannah and Colin used the Captain Tom Foundation name on the initial full plans for the development. A revised application was submitted after an enforcement visit by CBC officers.