DEMONSTRATORS pelted police with bricks, bottles and fireworks and set vehicles alight on Tuesday in a second night of anti-immigrant violence in the Northern Ireland town of Ballymena.

Police used water cannon and plastic baton rounds in an attempt to disperse a crowd of several hundred people in the town, 25 miles north of Belfast.

At least one car was set on fire and the windows of several houses smashed. Officers also deployed riot dogs to the scene.

Petrol bombs, masonry and fireworks were hurled at police.

Violence erupted on Monday after a peaceful march to show support for the family of the victim of an alleged sexual assault on the weekend. Two teenage boys have been charged.

The suspects have not been identified because of their age. They were supported before Coleraine Magistrates Court by a Romanian interpreter.

Their solicitor said that the two boys would be denying the charges.

A third man had been arrested on Monday night in connection with the sexual assault but was unconditionally released.

The disorder began following the court appearance of the two boys and after an earlier peaceful protest.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland said that 17 officers had been injured during the disturbances.

Assistant Chief Constable (ACC) Ryan Henderson said officers were “actively working to identify those responsible for Tuesday’s racially motivated disorder in Ballymena and bring them to justice.”

He said that the violence should be “loudly condemned by all right-thinking people.”

“Any attempt to justify or explain it as something else is misplaced,” ACC Henderson said.

During the disorder, residents put up signs displaying the nationalities of those inside — one said “British household” and another “Filipino lives here.”

First Minister Michelle O’Neill said what was happening in Ballymena was “pure racism.

“Those responsible for this violence bring nothing but hatred, fear and division.”