A worried mum has revealed the chilling moment a retail worker urged her to steer clear of shopping centres with her kids 'unless it was absolutely necessary' as Melbourne battles a violent youth crime wave. 

Rochelle Currie said the shop assistant told her to avoid coming to the shops during the school holidays because 'the teenagers are out of control'. 

'I'm not a politician, I'm just a mum, but also I'm very concerned that this is becoming normal... it's shocking,' Ms Currie said in a Tiktok video. 

She said her husband had been at Westfield Doncaster Shopping Centre in October with their young daughter when a large group of young men dressed in black suddenly charged towards them. 

'My husband took my daughter to a specialist appointment in Doncaster and after, they went into the centre to grab a drink,' she said.

'My husband could see in the distance a whole group of boys running towards them. He grabbed my daughter, pulled her to the side, got her behind him and they all just ran past.

'They were fully dressed in black, they had their faces covered. There were people screaming, trying to get out of the way.'

Ms Currie said her husband felt it was 'very clear' that the security guards deliberately held back, waiting for police to intervene. 

Melbourne mother Rochelle Currie was warned by a shop assistant to stay away from the shops as 'teenagers are out of control'

The mum described a terrifying incident at the Westfield Doncaster Shopping Centre (pictured)

'They decided to come straight home and they saw outside the whole group of boys, there were police, there was just chaos,' she said.

'What is happening? I love Melbourne, I have lived here my entire life, I think it is the best city in the world but the juvenile crime is getting out of control.' 

The video garnered thousands of comments, with many locals sharing their experiences of being impacted by youth crime.

'I'm so over it. I'm a young mum with an 11-month-old and we literally only go shops when it's school time and most [of] the time we are always with someone else. It's horrible,' one woman said. 

Another said she still recovering from a terrifying attack at a petrol station. 

'My husband and I were attacked at a BP [garage] while shopping [by] a group of teenage boys wearing all black with pickaxes and machetes,' she said.

'They were arrested four months later and given community service after 80 crimes committed including home invasions not only servos. It's been a year now I still haven't fully recovered from the shock.'