A DAD-OF-THREE who was wrongly accused of being a paedophile on Facebook, said tougher laws are needed against people who spread malicious rumours online.

Luke Chatfield left his job at BB’s Cafe in Stretford Mall after a neighbour called him a paedophile and posted his work address on a Facebook group – Convicted Paedophile From Stretford on Facebook Get Him Off.

The group, which had nearly 1,000 members, was about a different man.

It has since been removed by Facebook.

Mr Chatfield, who lives with his wife Karen and three daughters, found out about the comments from a customer two weeks after they were posted online.

He said they were ‘disgusting’ and ‘very hurtful’.

“I am very lucky because I have a very strong marriage and strong faith, if I didn’t this could have ruined me,” he said.

Police visited his neighbour, Sally Pepper, and she was given a fixed penalty notice for sending ‘false messages likely to cause distress’.

The Chatfields said there had been several disputes with Ms Pepper over the past three years.

Mrs Chatfield said her nine-year-old daughter, who has ADHD and autism, has had panic attacks and is scared to leave the house.

Last week, Ms Pepper was given pre-injunction warning letter by Trafford Housing Trust (THT).

If the abuse continues she could be given an Anti-Social Behaviour Injunction.

Jane McCall, director of delivery at THT, said: “The Trust will not tolerate anti-social behaviour in its neighbourhoods.”

Jenny Craig, press officer for Facebook, said: “We have strict rules about what is allowed on Facebook, and a system that enables anyone who spots inappropriate content to report it to our user operations team who will investigate each report and remove content that violates our terms of service.”

A police spokesman said: “On January 10 we received a report that offensive and inaccurate messages had been posted on a social networking site relating to a man living on Norris Road, Sale.

“Officers spoke to a woman who also lives on Norris Road about the offence and issued her with a fixed penalty notice for sending false messages likely to cause distress under the Communications Act.

“Both parties were in agreement with this cause of action.

“The Sale Neighbourhood Policing Team has also been working in partnership with the housing trust in an effort to resolve any long-term issues between the neighbours.”