Graeme and Ajita Bowler only moved into their new house in the Doagh Road area of the town on December 10, but they were forced to flee following a petrol bomb attack at the weekend.

Shortly after 5am on Saturday (December 27) two windows at the property in the Fairview development were smashed and containers filled with flammable material hurled inside.

Graeme, who comes from east Belfast, revealed how he and his wife were lucky to escape uninjured.

“We heard the glass smashing downstairs and my wife started screaming. We ran downstairs and could see the windows smashed and the place on fire. We had to run across the glass in our bare feet and luckily we were able to get the fire put out,” he told the Times.

“They’d thrown two petrol bombs in through the windows and they’d tried to smash the window of the bedroom we were in as well. We were lucky to get out alive.”

Graeme said that he and his wife, who is originally from southern India, had been subjected to a campaign of racist intimidation from the day they moved in.

“The attacks started the first night we were there. They were taunting my wife, calling her names, she was absolutely terrified. They pulled out plants, threw stones at the windows and threw bottles into the garden.

“At first it was just kids and young teenagers, but it soon escalated with older individuals getting involved.

“The people who smashed the windows and threw the petrol bombs in were adults. Judging by the size of the breeze blocks used to smash the glass, they must’ve been adults to have been able to lift them.”

The 29-year-old believes that loyalist paramilitaries with links to neo-Nazi organisations were behind the hate campaign.

“I’m sure the police who work in the community know a lot of these people who are continually involved in this sort of trouble and are behind these racist attacks, but whether anyone will ever be caught and prosecuted is another matter,” he said.

The couple, who both work in the banking industry, are now staying with family members until they can organise a more permanent place to stay. But Graeme says they definitely won’t be moving back to Ballyclare.

“We have left Ballyclare and are planning to leave Northern Ireland in time as well. We’ll have to wait to see how things go in terms of our mortgage, the house and financial matters, but we’re hoping to start a new life in New Zealand.”

A PSNI spokesperson confirmed that they are treating the attack as a racist hate crime.

Detectives investigating the incident have appealed for anyone with information to contact them on 0845 600 8000.