Petrol bombs, a hatchet and masonry were among items thrown at police during a third consecutive night of disorder in Ballymena. Officers responded with water cannon, dogs and plastic baton rounds in an attempt to disperse crowds in the Co Antrim town.

By Conor Humphries BALLYMENA, Northern Ireland (Reuters) -Violence erupted in different parts of Northern Ireland for the third successive night on Wednesday, with masked youths starting a fire in a leisure centre but unrest in the primary flashpoint of Ballymena was notably smaller in scale.