Donnelly said a brick was thrown through a window of the leisure centre in Larne where a yoga class was being held and members had to flee for safety.

"Thankfully, nobody was hurt but as you can imagine there was glass everywhere and the women had to get up and leave," he said.

Donnelly said it quickly became violent and the windows of the leisure centre were "systematically being put in".

He added that paint was thrown over fire doors and described it as a "sustained attack" on the building.

"They were already throwing bricks at the police as well," he said.

He said staff had to flee through the back door for their own safety.

Donnelly told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme that people and children became "fearful" and staff helped customers "to leave via the side doors and get to their cars safely".

"It became more and more sinister, and it became more and more obvious that there was a malicious intent. You don't come to a peaceful protest with a mask and bricks."

Olympic swimmer trained at centre

Olympic swimmer Danielle Hill, who trained at the leisure centre, described the attack as not just violence, but that "it was racism in its rawest and most dangerous form".

In a Facebook post, she said Wednesday night's events "are already being felt".

"No child should ever have had to witness the sight of individuals in Balaclavas.

"A local community torn apart. Families left frightened. Workers, left without incomes. The harm is not abstract – it is here, it is local, and it is devastating," she said.

Analysis: Bad timing for crisis-hit PSNI

by Julian O'Neill, BBC News NI crime and justice correspondent

The disorder comes at a time of crisis for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

Its chief constable, Jon Boutcher, has issued repeated warnings about it being "critically underfunded", leaving it with the lowest number of officers in its history.

It currently has 6,200 officers – compared to more than 9,000 when it was established in 2001, and various official reports have recommended it should have at least 7,500 officers.

There have been many political commitments to achieving this, but it has not been acted upon given the constant pressures on public spending.

To make matters worse, around 1,500 officers are either on sickness absence or restricted duties away from frontline policing.

You can read more analysis here.

'Dramatic footage' of disorder

DUP councillor Andrew Clark said he first saw "dramatic" footage of the disorder on social media.

"It seemed that youths had broken in and the foyer of it was quite heavily on fire, quite a lot of smoke," he told BBC News NI.

"After a period of time the police arrived, security arrived and then fire engines arrived and were able to bring it under control fairly quickly and then remained on the scene."

Clark estimated that there were fewer than a dozen hooded youths involved in the arson and several hundred people observing.

"The mood was one of shock of the stupidity, burning your own leisure centre down, anger at the wickedness of it, attacking a building used by everyone," he said.

"I would say also there's some people dismayed because there's very legitimate conversations to be had around the issues of housing and immigration and that's totally been taken off the agenda through this wickedness."

"It is very concerning, the message is very clear, it has to stop, you are doing no good whatsoever," he added.

What else happened on Wednesday night?

The PSNI said more officers were injured and six further arrests were made during the third consecutive night of disorder.

Ballymena

Officers were attacked with petrol bombs, heavy masonry, bricks, fireworks and a hatchet.

Nine officers were injured but remained on duty.

Two men aged in their 20s and one in their 30s, along with two teenagers were arrested on suspicion of riotous behaviour and other offences.

A number of baton rounds were discharged and water cannon was deployed.

One man, aged 18, and two teenage boys, aged 15 and 17, have been charged with riot after Tuesday's disorder. The 15-year-old has also been charged with criminal damage.

They are expected to appear before Ballymena Magistrates Court on Thursday.

Two other teenage boys who were arrested during the disorder have been released on bail.

Newtownabbey

A teenager was arrested in connection with disorder in the Station Road area.

Coleraine

A bus was attacked and was prevented from entering the station.

Bins were set alight on the train tracks at the station and petrol bombs were thrown at officers, resulting in train and bus services being cancelled.

The police are investigating a fire at nearby business premises and a subsequent report that a number of young people broke into a tyre business and added tyres to fire.

Carrickfergus, Antrim, Lisburn and Belfast

Masked protesters blocked roads on the Marine Highway area in Carrickfergus.

Protests passed without incident in the Antrim and Lisburn areas.

A number of protests also took place across Belfast, and police described them as "mainly peaceful".

Criticism of Stormont minister

Donnelly was among a number of elected representatives criticising a Stormont minister over a social media post about the location of migrant families who left their homes hours before the centre was attacked.

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said that people caught up in clashes in Ballymena were being temporarily moved to Larne Leisure Centre.

Sinn Féin Finance Minister John O'Dowd claimed Lyons "failed to show leadership".

Donnelly said: "I thought it was incredibly reckless and dangerous to highlight the location of where these people were being kept and brought to a place of safety."

"If I was the minister, I would certainly be considering my position," he added.

Lyons has defended his comments saying the information was in the public domain, and had been confirmed by the local council.

DUP leader Gavin Robinson said Lyons has been "fundamentally misrepresented" and said it is "a disgrace and a distraction at a time whenever what we need is collective political leadership".

Meanwhile in County Armagh, a housing association has warned its residents to leave their homes and take measures to protect their properties ahead of a planned protest.

The first election to choose a mayor for Greater Lincolnshire is just weeks away, but some people say they are still unsure what the role is all about.

On 1 May voters from North East Lincolnshire and North Lincolnshire council areas along with those covered by Lincolnshire County Council, will pick from six candidates to be the mayor of the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority (GLCCA).

The mayor will be handed powers to take over local transport services, build new infrastructure such as roads or business parks and is expected to drive what is being called the skills agenda, in other words making sure that there are enough opportunities to train the next generation of care workers, plumbers or engineers.

But do voters know what their mayor will do for them?

Metropolitan areas such as London and Manchester have had mayors for some years, but it seems that Lincolnshire people are still getting used to the idea.

In fact, many are yet to turn their minds to the local elections in general, as BBC Lincolnshire has been finding out in Lincoln's Steep Hill.

'I don't know what the mayor will do'

Nicola Lockwood, aged 59, owns and runs Bells Tea Shop. She says "there isn't that much information between everyone".

"We've got the county council, city council, the mayor, an MP and I'm not clear what the mayor's responsibilities are," she said.

When asked what she wants from the new mayor she says "support for small, independent businesses because we're struggling".

"But I don't know if they will have the powers to do that."

'Haven't really looked at it yet'

Blake Francis, aged 27, works in marketing but says that "apart from the polling card coming through" he has not yet really thought much about the local elections.

"I'll look into it in a couple of weeks," he said.

"The main issues for me would be how public money is being spent and environmental issues."

'Social care needs funding'

Teaching assistant Christine Bingley said she thought the mayor "was someone with a big chain around their neck opening fetes" and did not realise it held so much power.

"It shows my lack of knowledge!" she joked.

She says economic growth and jobs is really important to her, alongside health and care provision.

"Recently my mum has had to go into respite care and it costs so much money and there aren't enough staff to look after the people," she said.

'People leaving it longer between appointments'

Lewis Gollin, aged 25, runs Sculpt Studios barbers on Steep Hill.

He says he "will read up on it all" nearer polling day and will be looking for policies that will make people feel better off.

"We haven't lost clients but they are leaving it longer between appointments to keep costs down as people are worried and are trying to save a bit more," he said.

'Immigration needs looking at'

Kitchen assistant Sam Mather, aged 40, says he "doesn't know a great deal" about the mayor, believing "ignorance is sometimes bliss".

"Immigration is a big issue as I don't think we look after British people enough, not that anyone else is less important, but we seem to take in from all parts of the world and we're not stable enough ourselves."

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Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds latest episode of Look North here.

A TV comedy set in Small Heath, Birmingham, was made to make the people of the West Midlands proud, its creator has said.

In Man Like Mobeen, Coventry comedian Guz Khan plays the starring role of a former drug dealer trying to live a good life as a Muslim, while raising his younger sister.

He said he wanted to portray the experiences of second-generation immigrants and hinted the fifth and final series would provide "closure" for fans.

The show, which also has scenes filmed in Khan's home city, returns to BBC Three on Thursday.

Khan said all actors in the Bafta-nominated comedy were from "very working class backgrounds".

"Instead of trying to manufacture what that's like and what it feels like to be from those communities, we knew it straight away," he added.

He said he felt happy the team had been able to show there was room for different types of comedy, with more realistic, grounded characters viewers might have met at school, on the bus, or in a factory.

"The aim was always to make a show that the people of the West Midlands, Birmingham, Small Heath, and the surrounding areas would be proud of," he said.

Khan said the programme had enabled him to "highlight issues that have affected us growing up".

He also said he realised, after filming the first series, that it was the first time he had done "serious acting".

He described the experience as "emotional and a little bit serious and a little bit dramatic".

The latest series came about because everywhere he went people asked him when there would be more episodes, he said, adding: "We had to make some closure for the fans."

Now he plans to spend more time at home with his wife and five children, to "stay at home and just be a dad".

"Five kids is a lot of kids. I love them. We have a laugh, but it's a lot of work," he said.