Bailiffs searching for someone who had not paid a £50 Croydon Council parking fine forced their way into the wrong Addiscombe home, terrifying a couple's young child.

Julie Sutton, 40, and her partner have been renting the house for only a few months.

They were woken at 7am last Tuesday morning by bailiffs acting on behalf of the town hall.

The debt collectors were looking for the previous residents of the Greencourt Avenue home, who had failed to pay a £50 parking fine before moving out.

Julie and her partner said they asked the men to leave but they refused - even though they knew the people who owed the money no longer lived there.

Julie's partner David said: "We didn't know anything about it, but they barged their way in and woke our three-year-old daughter up and terrified her - and it was all over a parking fine which was nothing to do with us.

"They were aggressive and threatening - I am not afraid of many people but they were really abusive."

The family called police who arrived promptly, but the bailiffs still refused to leave unless they were given a forwarding address for the previous family.

David added: "I cannot believe my family was put through this all over something so small. We rent this house in our own right yet we were completely intimidated in our own home.

"I don't think it is right that they should be able to do this to people in their homes, what if it had been an elderly lady living here or someone who was ill? They upset my daughter so much and even the police could not remove them."

The bailiffs, from Equita Ltd, based in Northampton, were at the address for more than an hour and unplugged electrical equipment before they were stopped by police.

David added: "I hate Croydon, I have lived all over the world and I have never come across a place like it that is so obsessed with parking and traffic fines.

"I have received two fines in as many weeks recently for pulling over at the side of the road for a few minutes. It has just been horrendous. They just had total disrespect for anything and everything."

Michael Bryant, from debt collection company Equita, said: "It is not company policy for our bailiffs to force entry into a person's home. It is not something we would expect or condone. If the residents concerned wish to make a complaint then we would certainly investigate it."

Julie said: "I cannot believe local residents can be intimidated like this - in their own homes."

A spokesman for Croydon Police confirmed that they had attended the scene to remove bailiffs that had entered the Addiscombe address, but said that no arrests were made.

A council spokesman said: "A bailiff acting on behalf of the council attended the address and was told that the person he was looking for was not present.

"He quite legitimately asked the people present for proof of their identity but that request was refused and the bailiff and his assistant became the targets of abuse.

"The residents then called the police who upon their arrival were told the purpose of the bailiff's visit and shown his identification, but the residents continued to refuse to offer proof of their identities and, in order to defuse the situation, the bailiff left the premises.

"The council is assured that, at all times, the bailiff acted within council-set guidelines and within the law. "