28 January 2024 , 22:10
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Neighbours living near Captain Sir Tom Moore's daughter and her "unauthorised" spa development say it has made them a "laughing stock".
The £200,000 spa - next to Hannah Ingram-Moore's lavish £1.2million home in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire - is set to be demolished on February 7. Workers have already set up a tarpaulin around the C-shaped complex and belongings are being removed.
Villagers say Captain Tom's legacy has been "tarnished" by the scandal after he raised close to £40million for the NHS during the Covid pandemic. The war veteran, who died aged 100 in February 2021, was knighted after he completed 10 laps of his garden each day.
Ms Ingram-Moore admitted to pocketing money from the funds raised during a bombshell interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV. She said: "We have to accept that we made a decision, and it was probably the wrong one."
She revealed they kept £800,000 from the three books her dad had written - claiming he had wanted them to keep the profits. Other controversies include her £18,000 payment to attend the Captain Tom awards and only donating £2,000 of it to his charity.
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The spa complex is set to be knocked down (PA)Angry neighbour Ian Knight told the Independent he feels "embarrassed" when people ask about the controversial spa. “We were proud of what he’s done but now we’re the laughing stock," he said. “They’ve spoilt everything. It was a good thing what he’s done, and now it’s embarrassing.”
Another neighbour claimed it has "devalued" other homes and looks like a "prison", and another that the couple have "never spoken to anybody" and that the spa "doesn't sit well" within the grounds of listed building or the housing around it. Another added: “The worst bit is that it’s made a mockery of Captain Tom’s name.”
The spa clear out has seen piles of belongings brought out (Spartacus / SplashNews.com)It comes after Ms Ingram-Moore and husband Colin Ingram-Moore lost a fight to overturn a council decision in October last year to tear it down. They had six weeks to appeal but opted against it. The Planning Inspectorate previously ruled the spa was built illegally.
Central Bedfordshire Council originally granted the couple permission to build a small charity office in the name of the Captain Tom Foundation in 2021. The Ingram-Moores' application claimed it would be used partly "in connection with The Captain Tom Foundation and its charitable objectives".
The spa was built alongside the family's mansion (TalkTV)Then a subsequent retrospective application in 2022 added plans for a spa pool, changing rooms, toilets and showers. The complex was referred to as The Captain Tom Building and described as "a new building for use by the occupiers".
The court was also told the Foundation will be shut down when a Charity Commission probe concludes. An initial investigations was escalated into a statutory inquiry in June 2022. Accounts showed it had given £160,000 in charitable grants while £240,000 was spent on management and fundraising costs.
In its first year of operation, more than £54,000 was also reimbursed to Club Nook Limited and Maytrix Group Limited, controlled by the couple. In a statement, a spokesperson said: "At this moment in time, the sole focus of The Captain Tom Foundation is to ensure that it cooperates fully with the ongoing Statutory Inquiry by the Charity Commission. As a result, The Captain Tom Foundation is not presently actively seeking any funding from donors."
The Mirror contacted Ms Ingram-Moore for comment.