A neighbour of Captain Sir Tom Moore’s family says the NHS fundraising hero would have “hated what is going on”, amid reports of the controversy surrounding his daughter’s spa continues.
Hannah Ingram-Moore, 52, and husband Colin have been ordered by the local council to tear down their C-shaped outhouse containing a swimming pool and a spa. They are understood to be fighting the decision at their seven-bedroom property which has caused uproar in their home in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire.
Earlier some neighbours near the property said they would “tear it down themselves” as ill feeling towards the family continues to grow. Now another resident has shared what they believe Sir Tom would have made of the ongoing disagreement.
They told MailOnline: “I knew Captain Tom quite well and he would have hated what has gone on."
It is understood Mrs Ingram-Moore and her husband say they should not have to tear it down as returning the site to its original state will involve building the court again. They had told planners they wanted a 'Captain Tom Building' to use as an office space at the property in Bedfordshire.
They put forward the planning application in their own names, but then referenced the charity in their design and access statement.
The charity’s trustees said: "At no time were The Captain Tom Foundation’s independent trustees aware of planning permissions made by Mr and Mrs Ingram-Moore purporting to be in the foundation’s name. Had they been aware of any applications, the independent trustees would not have authorised them."
In August 2021, the couple said they "urgently" needed space for presentations and memorabilia. They received permission for an annex but a retrospective application for the spa was refused last year.
Captain Tom shot to fame after walking 100 laps of his garden at the age of 99 to raise money for the NHS. He set out with a goal to raise £1,000 by his 100th birthday - but ended up topping more than £38million.
The World War Two veteran, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, passed away at the age of 100 following a short battle with Covid and pneumonia.
The commission said it was concerned about a “failure to consider intellectual property and trademark issues” when the charity was set up.
The money raised by Captain Sir Tom was donated to a separate charity before the Foundation was formed and is not part of the investigation.
Earlier today, it emerged Mrs Ingram-Moore became an "accredited" executive life coach in February and started charging up to £3,500 for her business expertise, The Times reports.
One client's testimonial to her life coach work, featured online, features a photograph of a man on a phone and was taken from a set of stock images.
It says: "I chose Hannah after our initial chat because she not only carried a wealth of experience, but also I felt listened [sic] and asked me reflective questions in equal balance that changed my perspective without giving me ‘the answer’."
The website states Mrs Ingram-Moore has an initial "discovery consultation" with clients for £50, redeemed when any session booked, in which she identifies if and how she can help the client. Thereafter, programmes typically cost anything between £1,450, and £3,500, the website states.
Neither Mrs Ingram-Moore nor the charity have commented about her side trade. The charity did, on Tuesday, release a statement in relation to the planning permission row. It stated it is not presently actively seeking any funding from donors due to the investigation opened by Charity Commission.
It added: "At this moment in time, the sole focus of the Captain Tom Foundation is to ensure that it co-operates fully with the ongoing statutory inquiry by the Charity Commission.
"As a result, the Captain Tom Foundation is not presently actively seeking any funding from donors."
