Residents attacked with missiles

A resident clears up after a night's trouble

The police have questions to answer following an attack on the Protestant Cluan Place area of east Belfast, the Ulster Unionist leader has said.

Sir Reg Empey said officers visited the area on Wednesday to tell residents they expected some activity that night.

A number of missiles, including bottles and stones, were thrown into the area.

Sir Reg said officers should have been on the other side of the security wall in the nationalist Short Strand area to prevent the attack taking place.

He said he intended to raise the matter with the local district police commander.

"They (the police) just came into the street and told a couple of residents that they expected some activity last night and that's exactly what happened," he said.

"So the question is, why weren't they on the other side of the wall to prevent it?"

Police were called to the incident shortly after 0115 BST on Thursday and stayed in the area for several hours to monitor the situation.

They said there were no reports of any injuries.