A Melbourne shopping centre was locked down on Tuesday after a fight broke out between two groups of young people.

The altercation between the children began at Woodgrove Shopping Centre on High Street in Melton West about 2.45pm.

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One of the groups then fled the scene into a nearby ALDI supermarket, where they were allegedly followed by the other group and threatened with a knife.

Witnesses told 7NEWS shops were forced to close as the incident unfolded, pulling customers inside to safety.

The children were armed with machetes and a butcher’s knife, witnesses said.

“They were running in and out of shops chasing each other and (it just wasn’t) safe, so we all started locking our stores down,” Vesna Beatty from George & Matilda Eyecare said.

The experience was “petrifying”, Beatty said.

“You don’t expect (that), I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.”

No one was injured during the incident.

Three Brookfield teenagers — aged 16, 15 and 14 — were arrested by Victoria Police in the shopping centre’s carpark after fleeing the scene.

All three boys are assisting police with their inquiries.

Officers allegedly seized a machete and a knife from the group.

It is believed the two groups of children are known to each other.

Anyone with information about the incident is urged to contact police.

-With Rochelle Brown