Family loses appeal

Capt Sir Tom Moore’s family will have to demolish the unauthorised spa they built in the grounds of their home.

It comes after the fundraiser’s daughter Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband lost an appeal against a demolition order made by Central Bedfordshire Council.

The family now have three months to demolish the building.

His family set up a separate charity in his name which is currently under investigation by the Charity Commission, amid concerns his family may have profited from using his name.

Council inspector Diane Fleming said: "In the absence of any substantiated information, I find the suggested public benefit would therefore not outweigh the great weight to be given to the harm to the heritage asset.”

Family lawyer Scott Stemp said the foundation was "unlikely to exist" in the future.

Stemp said: "It's not news to anybody that the foundation, it seems, is to be closed down following an investigation by the Charity Commission."

The building, on the grounds of the family home where he completed his charity walk, was originally approved for the use of the occupiers and the Captain Tom Foundation, and was granted planning permission in August 2021.

Capt Sir Tom walked 100 laps of his Bedfordshire garden at the start of the first coronavirus lockdown in 2020, raising more than £38m for NHS Charities Together.

He was knighted by the late Queen during a unique open-air ceremony at Windsor Castle in the summer of that year.

The army veteran, who was born in Keighley, West Yorkshire, died in February 2021 aged 100.

After he became an international figure, his family set up a separate charity in his name which is currently under investigation by the Charity Commission, amid concerns his family may have profited from using his name.