Arson attack on house 'sectarian'

The Dunclug estate is now predominantly nationalist

An arson attack on a Protestant-owned house in Ballymena is being treated as sectarian, police have said.

The blaze at the property in the Dunclug estate was reported at 2115 BST on Sunday evening.

Nobody was in the house at the time of the attack, but the property was extensively damaged in the fire.

Pamela Dawson, a niece of the family, said: "It's the 12th of July and they're just wanting them out. There's not many Protestants left in Dunclug."

"They have lived there for a long, long time and they have had their windows in nearly every weekend. So it is not just the fire this week, it has been happening a long time," she said.

Colin Dickson from the Fire and Rescue Service said the blaze was intense and it was an hour before firefighters were able to extinguish it.

"The house had a well-developed fire. The firefighters had to face intense heat to search the premises to make sure no-one was trapped inside," he said.