Crane lifts spa out of illegal £200k Captain Tom Foundation building as demolition gathers pace

  • Watch contractors lift out the spa pool from the building under demolition

A spa pool at the centre of the Captain Tom Foundation planning row has been lifted out by a crane, as demolition of the controversial building continues.

The tub was hooked up to chains and hoisted up through the open roof of the block, which was taken off by workmen earlier in the week.

The spa building is being demolished at the home of Captain Sir Tom Moore’s daughter in Marston Moretaine in Bedfordshire.

Its removal by a large yellow crane came three years after the death of Sir Tom on February 2, 2021.

Scaffolders arrived at the property on Tuesday, with a section of the roof removed the following day and the crane removing the spa pool on Friday afternoon.

Worker reveals day Captain Tom spa will be knocked down as scaffold goes up
The roof of the building has been lifted off this week. Credit: PA

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 7 February, and Central Bedfordshire Council said it would be “reviewing the onsite position” the following day.

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.

Work is expected to continue next week to ensure the building is demolished by 7 February. Credit: PA

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.

Captain Tom was knighted in a unique outdoor ceremony in the summer of 2020. Credit: PA

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 £38.9m 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.

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