Terrified residents put flags up in their home windows to show their nationalities as riots broke out for a third night in Northern Ireland.

Hundreds of masked thugs attacked police and set homes and cars on fire in Ballymena this week in what police condemned as "racist thuggery."

While the presence of rioters was much smaller last night, riot police attended the town of Larne 30km west where masked youths smashed the windows of a leisure centre before starting fires in the lobby.

Meanwhile, two Filipino families told reporters they fled their home in Ballymena on Tuesday night after fearing for their safety when their car was set on fire outside the house.

A rioter holds a brick in Ballymena

A view shows buildings with barricaded windows, following riots in Ballymena

Fire burns near a demonstrator as riots continue in Ballymena

The violence flared at the start of the week after two 14-year-old boys were arrested and appeared in court on Monday, accused of a serious sexual assault on a teenage girl in the town.

The charges were read via a Romanian interpreter to the boys, whose lawyer told the court that they denied the charge.

Police are investigating the damaging of properties on Monday and Tuesday in Ballymena, which has a relatively large migrant population, as racially-motivated hate crimes.

A few dozen masked youths threw some rocks, fireworks and petrol bombs at police after officers in riot gear and armoured vans blocked roads last night in Ballymena.

A Northern Ireland flag was displayed

Rioters in Northern Ireland

Police deployed water cannon against the crowd for the second successive night but the clashes were nothing like the previous night that left 17 officers injured and led to five arrests. Much of the crowd had left the streets before midnight