An Australian court has allowed a solicitor to use Facebook to serve legal documents on a couple who defaulted on a housing loan in what the social networking site believes is the first case of its kind.

Mark McCormack, a Canberra solicitor – and keen Facebook user – who is acting on behalf of the lender, said the Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court had allowed him to serve the papers after more conventional attempts to leave documents at the couple’s last known address had failed.