The High Court in Wellington was told that there were "difficulties" serving papers on Craig Axe because his exact whereabouts in Britain was not known, but that he has a Facebook page.

Mr Axe is being sued in a civil case by his family's firm, Axe Market Garden, which is run by his father John. The court papers allege that he drew £89,000 pounds from the company's account.

Daniel Vincent, counsel for the company, told the court a family dispute predated the alleged taking of money from the account via the internet while Mr Axe was in Britain.

Requesting the order, he told the judge that all conventional methods of informing Mr Axe that he was being sued were likely to prove ineffective, frustrating the case.

Justice David Gendall granted approval, the first time a New Zealand court has allowed such a step. Facebook was also used by police in the New Zealand alpine resort of Queenstown in January when they posted surveillance camera footage of a bungling burglar.

A man was later arrested as a result of the publicity.

Facebook has become hugely popular since it was launched in 2004 and claims more than 140 million users worldwide.

by:telegraph