Two police officers have been injured in disturbances in east Belfast.

A crowd of 150 attacked the police with blast bombs, petrol bombs, stones and bricks when they were called to the Short Strand area at about 0300 BST on Saturday morning.

Two houses in the loyalist Cluan Place were damaged by fire, one severely, after they were hit by petrol bombs.

The Progressive Unionist Party says the trouble was started by republicans intent on increasing tension in the area.

Sinn Fein says the violence was started by loyalists.

The violence follows a warning from the Police Service of Northern Ireland that the demands of dealing with street disturbances had resulted in an increase in ordinary crime.

That report, the first since the PSNI replaced the RUC last November, showed 17 people had died in the province as a result of continuing civil disorder during the year to the end of March.