The brawl erupted near the shopping centre in the south-eastern suburb of Narre Warren. The reserve near Fountain Gate where a brawl involving 30 young women erupted on Tuesday night. Credit:Rachel Eddie Workers at Fountain Gate said the shopping centre had a "treacherous" reputation, with some staff too scared to go to the underground car park for fear of being mugged. Brad Battin, the local Liberal MP, has renewed calls for a greater police presence at the troubled centre. Before last year's election, the Opposition promised police shop fronts at Fountain Gate and 11 other shopping centres in Melbourne's suburbs.

Gembrook MP Brad Battin has called for a police shop front at the Fountain Gate shopping centre. Credit:Justin McManus "It's something the shopkeepers have spoken to us about before – young people and violence in and around Fountain Gate shopping centre," he told The Age. "We think the Government should put in police shop fronts to look at reducing crime, particularly at Fountain Gate at the moment. Obviously that's a hotspot and they need to get on top of it before it gets out of hand." Senior Sergeant Trevor Smith, of the Casey Criminal Investigation Unit, said the brawl appeared to have been planned. "A group of probably 30-odd, mostly females, in their mid-to-late teens, have gathered at a Fountain Gate reserve where a fight broke out between two parties," he said.

"It’s unusual for an arranged fight by females." Police have not recovered a weapon and say it is not yet clear what sparked the brawl between two groups. Senior Sergeant Trevor Smith of the Casey Criminal Investigation Unit speaks to reporters. Credit:Rachel Eddie Police became aware of the fight when a girl took herself to hospital about 9.30pm on Tuesday, he said. By the time police arrived, the brawl had ended and most of the teenagers had fled. Police spoke to several witnesses, though not everyone was co-operating, he said.

Sergeant Smith said all of those involved were considered potential offenders, including the injured. Nobody has been charged. Police have appealed for further information. There was an increased police presence at Fountain Gate on Wednesday. Credit:Rachel Eddie A retail worker at the shopping centre said there were frequently issues of youth crime and violence. "Every day there is something that goes on," said the shop assistant, who has worked at Fountain Gate for four years. She said there was always at least one police car in the area from the afternoon onwards.

"It didn’t used to be that bad," she said. The woman said she doesn’t park in the underground carpark if she’s working late to avoid young people congregating there. A worker at one of the many kiosks said the centre appeared to have a ‘‘treacherous’’ reputation.

‘‘If I tell people I work at Westfield Fountain Gate shopping centre they sort of scoff and say ‘that must be fun’,’’ the man said. He claimed to have seen people tackled and cuffed by police in front of his store, and fights on the escalators directly across from him in his six months working there. But there’s generally a high police presence to deal with any issue. ‘‘There’s always something going on," he said. ‘‘Rarely a day goes pass where you don’t see something. ‘‘It’s interesting enough, you get a good front row seat.’’