A family have faced ugly confrontations on their doorstep and had their home subject to surveillance after their address was mistaken with that of a criminal.

Anthony and Madeleine Ignacio have lived in their detached house in Whitstable Road, Canterbury, for 18 years, where they have raised their four children without so much as a brush with the law.

But a bizarre set of events began on Remembrance Sunday with a knock at the door.

"We weren't expecting anyone and answered the door to a man who said he was looking for 'Daniel'," said Madeleine.

They told the man no one by that name lived at the address, but the official, who was wearing a lanyard, was insistent, forcing the couple’s son, Nick, 27, to ask him to leave and stop harassing them.

They dismissed the visit at first, assuming there had been a mix-up with the addresses next door, which are popular with students and have the same house number but a suffix of A or B.

But the Iganacios were later to learn that 38-year-old Daniel James Grace, who was handed a four-year driving ban by Margate Magistrates’ Court on November 6, was listed by the court as living at their address.

Grace was convicted of failing to provide a specimen of blood for alcohol analysis after he was pulled over in Ashford in January.

Court papers show he was given a six-month curfew to stay indoors at the Ignacios’ home between 9pm and 5.30am.

At 11pm another night more callers arrived at the address.

"Someone has made a very big mistake and it’s absolutely horrific for us as we have no knowledge of Daniel" - Anthony Ignacio

The Ignacios were confronted by two female officials, who told them they were from the court monitoring service and were coming to check on Daniel’s curfew.

Anthony, 56, who runs a catering business, said: “I told them ‘you are knocking on my door late at night, but you won’t even tell me the surname of who you are looking for’.

“Instead of co-operating with us and saying what it was all about, they were treating us like criminals.”

The Ignacios then observed three people sitting in two cars parked directly outside their property, who waited until 12.10am before leaving the area.

They complained to the court service and police, but were still none the wiser as to how Grace was listed as living at their home.

Madeleine said: “Someone has made a very big mistake and it’s absolutely horrific for us as we have no knowledge of Daniel.

“The offence he committed was in January so since then our house has been associated with a criminal. It’s so upsetting.”

The police said officers had the correct address during their investigation, but added: “However, due to the similarity between the two addresses it appears an administrative error may have led to the member of the public being incorrectly contacted by the Court Service.

“Kent Police has worked with the Court Service to resolve the issue.”