A group of masked individuals have set fire to a leisure centre in the latest night of violence in Northern Ireland.
The blaze broke out at Larne Leisure Centre in County Antrim on Wednesday following vandalism at the facility.
The attack came on the third night of public disorder in the town of Ballymena, 30 minutes away from Larne.
Local Alliance MLA Danny Donnelly said the leisure centre had been “attacked by masked thugs”.
“Windows smashed and fires lit nearby. Larne does not need this,” he added in a social media post.
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council said the facility had been designated as an emergency rest centre for those in urgent need following disturbances but the families had been safely relocated elsewhere.
The Police Service for Northern Ireland (PSNI) deployed riot police in Ballymena for a third night as a significant crowd gathered around the Clonavon Terrace area.
The trouble in Ballymena broke out on Monday after an alleged sexual assault on a girl in the area.
Police came under attack from masked protesters throwing fireworks, glass bottles and pieces of metal on Wednesday night.
Riot police with shields advanced on crowds to disperse them, and officers also used dog units and drones in their response to the gathering.
At least one protester was struck by a plastic baton round fired by police while officers also used a water cannon on the crowd.
Rioters who gathered on Bridge Street near the residential area were told to disperse shortly before 9pm after a firework was thrown at officers.
Police came under sustained attack as those participating in the disorder hurled petrol bombs, masonry and fireworks at police vehicles and officers standing nearby.
Earlier, a senior officer said the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) had requested support from colleagues in the rest of the UK.
PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said the force would be bringing extra officers, vehicles and equipment to areas where unrest has flared.
He said there were disgraceful scenes in Belfast, Lisburn, Coleraine, Carrickfergus and Newtownabbey on Tuesday, as businesses, homes and cars were attacked and damaged.
By Wednesday, six individuals had been arrested for public order offences, and one person was charged.
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said he “utterly condemns” the violence which left 32 police officers injured after the second night of disturbances.
PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has warned that the rioting “risks undermining” the criminal justice process into an allegation of a sex attack on a teenage girl in Ballymena at the weekend.
Stormont ministers have also made an urgent appeal for calm and said the justice process had to be allowed to take its course.
Providing an update on the policing operation on Wednesday, Mr Henderson said: “We are taking steps to increase available resources and are surging a significant number of extra officers, vehicles and equipment to those areas where the rioting is taking place.
“This will have an impact on our community, this will take away vital resources needed to police other areas.”
He said they have requested about 80 officers through mutual aid.
In a joint statement, ministers from across the Stormont powersharing Executive, which includes Sinn Fein, DUP, Alliance Party and UUP, said those involved in disorder have nothing to offer society but “division and disorder”.
First Minister Michelle O’Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly later appeared together to voice their condemnation.
Sinn Fein vice-president Ms O’Neill told reporters in Belfast: “It’s pure racism, there is no other way to dress it up.”
She said ministers stood full-square with the young girl who was subject to the alleged sex attack but added the criminal justice system must be allowed to deal with that case.
Police said their officers came under sustained attack over a number of hours with multiple petrol bombs, heavy masonry, bricks and fireworks thrown in their direction in the Clonavon Terrace area of Ballymena on Tuesday night.
The PSNI deployed riot police, fired plastic baton rounds, and used water cannon as well as dog units as part of its response to the disorder.
Police also reported that “sporadic disorder” had also occurred in Newtownabbey and Carrickfergus, as well as incidents in north Belfast.
The violence began around Clonavon Terrace on Monday night following an earlier peaceful protest which was organised in support of the family of a girl who was the victim of an alleged sexual assault in the area.
Two teenage boys, who spoke to a court through a Romanian interpreter, have been charged.
