At least two devices were thrown at the house in Clifton Park Avenue at 2230 BST on Saturday.

One of the petrol bombs smashed through the living room window of the house, setting the carpet on fire.

A man was asleep in bed upstairs at the time.

If I hadn't been in the house my dad was lying in bed sleeping, so God knows what would have happened

Householder

His son, who was in the house and managed to put the fire out, said if he had not been there his father could have been killed.

"I heard one loud bang but I didn't know what it was," he said.

"I came into the living room because I heard people shouting. The place was in flames and I got water and tried to put it out and tried to put it out.

"If I hadn't been in the house my dad was lying in bed sleeping, so God knows what would have happened."

The family said they believed their home was petrol-bombed simply because they are Protestant.

Bricks

However, they said they would not be intimidated out of their home.

It is the third attack in the north of the city in as many days.

Loyalists were blamed for an attack on a family in Skegoneil Avenue on Saturday.

A married couple and their three-year-old twin sons narrowly escaped injury after a petrol bomb was thrown into their home.

A number of other Catholic homes were also damaged when a large crowd of loyalist youths launched an attack with bricks and stones at about 0200 BST on Saturday.

Nine cars were damaged in the incident, including three vehicles which were completely burnt out.

'Unprovoked'

Two of the vehicles were burnt out in Skegoniel Avenue, while the other was set alight in nearby Glandore Avenue.

Police had to use a Land Rover at one point to move one of the burning vehicles, which was close to a home and in danger of setting it on fire.

In the early hours of Friday morning, loyalists launched what police described as "an unprovoked sectarian attack".

They attacked Catholic homes in the Ligoniel area of the city.

One house was destroyed in a petrol bomb attack and windows were broken in nine more.

Two paramedics needed hospital treatment after the emergency services were ambushed by stone-throwing youths when called to the area.