Captain Tom's family has 'ruined everything' in our town over their 'prison-like' spa expansion – they're not even talking to us
Neighbors of Captain Tom's family say they have “ruined everything” thanks to a row over a “prison-like” spa complex.
Planners ordered Tom's daughter Hannah Ingram Moore to demolish the facility last year after it was declared illegal.
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But the row and revelations about the Ingram-Moores' transfer of charity finances have 'tarnished' the village, locals say.
Frustrated Ian Knight, told the Independent: “We were proud of what he did, but now we are the laughing stock.
'They ruined everything. What he did was right, and now it's embarrassing.”
Captain Tom Moore almost £40 million raised for the NHS during the Covid pandemic by walking laps through his garden.
The challenge captured the hearts of the nation and he was knighted for his achievements, but sadly died of Covid in February 2021.
Hannah set up the Captain Tom Foundation in his memory and in 2021 the council gave the green light for a new office building to run the charity.
But the family built a 50-by-20-foot pool house instead Dressing roomstoilets and showers in the garden of their £1.2 home in Marston Moretaine, Beds.
The C-shaped building – will be razed to the ground on February 7 – has “devalued” other homes and looks like a “prison,” said a neighbor.
A third said it was “about time they took it down”.
Others claimed Hannah and husband Colin had “never spoken to anyone”, which further soured the neighbors' opinion.
The family had submitted an application for planning under their own name, but used the name of the foundation in the design, access and heritage statement. The Sun revealed last year.
FROM NHS HERO TO SPA DECLINE
How Captain Tom Moore's story unfolded:
- April 2020 – Captain Tom Moore walks laps of the garden for NHS Charities Together, raising over £39 million before his 100th birthday on April 30
- June 2020 – Captain Tom Foundation founded by daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore
- February 2021 – Captain Tom dies after contracting Covid-19
- 2021 – Council gives permission to build garden office for foundation
- June 2022 – Charity committee investigates questions about the foundation's finances
- July 2023 – Office turns out to be a spa complex and charities stop receiving donations
- November 2023 – Family appeals earlier demolition order, but the municipality throws it out
- February 7, 2024 – Spa complex is demolished
Another 2022 retroactive application – the desirable thing that has already been built – to extend the building from an L-shape to a C-shape incorporating a spa pool was refused by the planning authority.
Workers were photographed last week clearing the £200,000 building – removing a BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award and Guinness Book of Records certificate.
POCKETING FUNDS
Hannah previously admitted pocketing £800,000 the three books her father had written – claiming he wanted his family to keep the profits.
She said TalkTV's Piers Morgan: “We have to accept that we made a decision, and it was probably the wrong one.”
Other controversies included her payment of £18,000 to attend the Captain Tom awards he donated only £2,000 of it to his charity.
Neighbors had previously accused Hannah of “playing on her father's name”.
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