African gang violence has ruined the Moomba for the third year in a row, with youths brawling in the streets in front of horrified visitors on Sunday morning.

Dozens of teenagers were caught on camera charging onto a tram with police in hot pursuit, and as night fell fights broke out on the streets in the heart of Melbourne.

Police were forced to use batons and pepper spray to bring the chaos under control, as crowds descended on the central business district for a massive street party.

Scroll down for video

African gang violence has ruined the Moomba for the third year in a row, with youths brawling in the streets in front of horrified families (pictured is a brawl at Moomba)

Dozens of teenagers were caught on camera charging onto a tram with police in hot pursuit, and as night fell fights broke out on the streets in the heart of Melbourne (pictured are crowds of youths at Moomba running from police)

Terrifying clashes erupted in several locations during the free family festival, despite police beefing up numbers in preparation for gang violence.

MP Jason Wood, a former police officer, said his former colleagues feel hamstrung in dealing with African gangs, A Current Affair reported.

'I'm hearing from my former colleagues in Victoria Police that there is an issue,' he said.

'It comes [down] to underreporting when it comes to incidents of the South Sudanese community, or in fact police are being reluctant to make arrests because they're concerned about allegations being made against them.'

Police were forced to use batons and pepper spray to bring the chaos under control, as crowds descended on the central business district for a massive street party (pictured are police pulling youths off a tram)

Victoria Police Commander Russell Barrett said the police operation had been successful and there were only a small number of incidents.

'What we saw on the weekend is we have a strong police presence in the CBD, they do a great job in ensuring community safety,' he said.

Footage filmed during this year's Moomba festival shows girls trading punches while frightened visitors duck for cover.

African community leaders worked closely with police in the lead up to the event, and the Apex gang were nowhere to be seen, in contrast with previous years (pictured is the 2016 event)

In 2016 officers were forced to deploy pepper spray as organised brawls broke out in front of horrified families at the community event (pictured is the 2016 event)

'What a f***ing dog!' one of the combatants screams as police struggle to break up the fracas.

African community leaders worked closely with police in the lead up to the event, and the Apex gang were nowhere to be seen, in contrast with previous years.

In 2016 officers were forced to deploy pepper spray as organised brawls broke out in front of horrified families at the community event.

More than 100 youths were filmed causing chaos in Federation Square and on Swanston Street, many of whom claimed to be part of the Apex gang (pictured is the 2016 event)

Police seized weapons including knives, scissors, a taser and a knuckle duster after conducting more than 800 searches following the 2017 event.

More than 100 youths were filmed causing chaos in Federation Square and on Swanston Street, many of whom claimed to be part of the Apex gang.

Police arrested 24 people in 2016, and more than 50 in 2017 when Apex thugs ran riot through the city centre.