Digger tears down building in demolition at home of Captain Tom’s family

A digger has torn down parts of an unauthorised building during a demolition at the home of pandemic fundraising hero Captain Sir Tom Moore’s daughter.

Workers could be seen removing scaffolding before the arrival of a digger at the property in Marston Moretaine in Bedfordshire on Monday.

The machine then ripped off wood and other debris from the building’s roof and knocked down some of its brick walls.

A crane had previously lifted the spa pool from the property on Friday after preparation for the demolition had started last week.

Hannah Ingram-Moore and her husband, Colin, lost an appeal against an order to remove the Captain Tom Foundation Building in the grounds of their property after a hearing in October.

Inspector Diane Fleming ruled in November that the spa block must be demolished within three months, by February 7, and Central Bedfordshire Council said it would be “reviewing the onsite position” the following day, on February 8.

Planning permission had been granted for an L-shaped building in the grounds of the family home – but the planning authority refused a subsequent retrospective application in 2022 for a larger C-shaped building containing a spa pool.

The council issued an enforcement notice in July 2023 requiring the demolition of the “unauthorised building” and the Planning Inspectorate dismissed an appeal against this.

During a hearing in October, chartered surveyor James Paynter, for the appellants, said the spa pool had “the opportunity to offer rehabilitation sessions for elderly people in the area”.

But Ms Fleming’s written decision concluded the “scale and massing” of the building had resulted in harm to the grade II-listed Old Rectory – the family’s home.

The foundation is the subject of an investigation by the Charity Commission amid concerns about its management and independence from Sir Tom’s family.

The charity watchdog opened a case into the foundation shortly after the 100-year-old died in 2021, and launched its inquiry in June 2022.

Scott Stemp, representing Ms Ingram-Moore and her husband, said at the appeal hearing that the foundation “is to be closed down following an investigation by the Charity Commission”.

Sir Tom raised £38.9 million for the NHS, including gift aid, by walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday, at the height of the first national Covid-19 lockdown in April 2020.

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