Protestant families living close to Portadown's Garvaghy Road allege they are being subjected to orchestrated sectarian attacks designed to force them out of their homes.
The residents of King Street and Whitten Close, a small Protestant enclave situated just off the Garvaghy Road, say attacks by nationalist youths have become an almost nightly occurrence. The Protestant families allege that, early on Monday evening, a crowd of between 30 and 40 nationalists threw stones and bottles at their homes. They claim RUC officers "ran from the street" when confronted by nationalists armed with hurley sticks.
"Quite simply, nationalists are engaging in a policy of ethnic cleansing in this area of Portadown," a spokesperson for the residents said.
A local DUP Assembly member and Mayor of Craigavon, Mr Mervyn Carrick, said he had been made aware of the attacks and was seeking an urgent meeting with the RUC to ensure "that these Protestant families receive proper protection immediately".
The SDLP Assembly member for Upper Bann, Ms Brid Rodgers, said: "If attacks have been made on Protestant homes then I think it is wrong. I would call on those involved to desist. If it happened, I condemn it."
The Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition spokesman, Breandan Mac Cionnaith, claimed that Catholic families living in the same area had also been the victims of sectarianism.
He said one family had been forced to flee their Park Road home last Friday.