I live next to Captain Tom’s daughter ‘she’s been doing everything wrong from start’ – family destroyed hero’s name
NEIGHBOURS of Hannah Ingram-Moore claim she went about things the wrong way and has now brought down Captain Tom's name.
Ingram-Moore and her husband Colin now have just three months to rip down the luxury spa at their £1.2million home in Bedfordshire.
The couple were yesterday told the news after they battled to overturn a council order to demolish the "unauthorised" building.
Neighbours have now told of how they felt about the ordeal - and say they had concerns from the beginning.
Pam Bushby, who is retired, said she "wouldn't be surprised" if the family decided to up and move from the neighbourhood.
She told The Sun: "They have done wrong from the start. When they started building they used to have lorries come down the road and get in through a gate at the back.
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"The kerb wasn’t dropped and they made a hell of a noise. Everyone was complaining.
"She did not knock on people’s doors and explain what is going on.”
Lyn Wright, 73, added: "Perhaps they should just tear it down and move on.
"It is really sad they have brought Captain Tom’s name down."
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Ingram-Moore and her husband had initially received permission from Central Bedfordshire Council to build a small charity office for the Captain Tom Foundation.
Plans for the L-shaped building at the seven-bed mansion in Marston Moretaine were given the green light in 2021.
The couple had applied in their own names for planning — but used the foundation’s name in the design and access and heritage statement.
A subsequent 2022 retrospective application - which is sought after something has already been built - to extend the originally approved building to form a C-shape, containing a spa pool, was refused by the planning authority.
Ingram-Moore and Colin then created a poolhouse with changing rooms, toilets and showers to sit alongside their £1.2million home.
It is really sad they have brought Captain Tom’s name down.
Lyn Wright
Chartered surveyor James Paynter, speaking for the family, suggested it could be used for "rehabilitation sessions for elderly people in the area".
But Richard Proctor, Planning Enforcement Team Leader, said: “The Council’s position is that the building is wholly different to the application.”
And the Planning Inspectorate yesterday ruled the complex will have to be come down.
Inspector Diane Fleming said the "scale and massing" of the building had "resulted in harm" to The Old Rectory - the Grade II listed family home in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire.
As well as tearing the spa down, the family will need to remove all building materials and restore the land to its "former condition".
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The family now have six weeks to appeal the decision.
It comes after it was revealed the Captain Tom Foundation will be shut down when a probe by the Charity Commission is over.
