Two males are on the run after a teenager was slashed with a machete while he was refuelling at a service station in Melbourne.

The young man, aged 18, was present at the station on Bridge Inn Road in Doreen when a pair of individuals wearing balaclavas arrived in a hatchback around 9.50pm last night.

The pair approached the man with machetes, hitting him in the forearm.

The man’s friends, who were inside the car, ran out and chased the armed offenders before calling for help. 

“Really shocked. Devastated that this has occurred in our local area. Just wish these incidents didn’t occur,” said local businessman Anthony de Simone.

A local woman added, “It’s quite confronting when it happens so close to home. You never really anticipate it happening nearby, and it’s frightening when it does.”

The slashed man was rushed to a nearby McDonald’s to get help before he was taken to the Northern Hospital with serious injuries.

His condition has improved today.

Locals are on alert after the incident.

“Terrifying. So scary that everything’s still going on, scared to be right here, right now actually,” another woman said.

“Just worried about my son. When he eventually starts driving and has to go out in the world on his own. What’s going to happen to him?” DeSimone said. 

The two offenders fled the scene in their car and remain on the run.

Police are investigating and urge anyone with information to come forward.