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 18-year-old man was at the station on Bridge Inn Road in Doreen when two people wearing balaclavas pulled up in a hatchback about 9.50pm yesterday.

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 happened in our local area. Just wish this stuff didn’t happen,” local businessman Anthony de Simone said. 

“It’s pretty confronting when it happens so close to home. You don’t really expect it to happen near you, and when it does, it’s scary,” a local woman said.

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.