Australia's worst mall: Carnage captured on video

It didn't take long before scenes of chaos played out on camera. Photo / Channel 9

A TV crew got way more than they bargained for when they sent cameras down to one of Australia's most troubled shopping centres.

Bare-knuckle boxing, feral tirades of abuse and copious amounts of daytime drinking were captured in a raucous A Current Affair segment on a troubled Geelong mall, an hour outside of Melbourne.

Dubbed one of "Australia's worst malls" by the Channel 9 show, camera crews headed down to Little Malop St shopping centre to see what the go was alongside former Geelong mayor Darryn Lyons.

It didn't take long before scenes of chaos played out.

One man brandished a crowbar to "protect himself". Photo / Channel 9

Mr Lyons was having a chat with reporter Tineka Everaardt when a loud, sweary argument played out behind them.

When the former politician asked whether that kind of language was acceptable on a public street, they turned on him.

"You're full of sh*t. Go f***ing blow your sh*t off somewhere else mate. Take your cameras and f**k off," said one of those involved in the argument.

In another scene, Mr Lyons walks up to intervene as two men become involved in a physical altercation.

"What the hell is going on here?" Mr Lyons asks.

"(It's) none of your business Lyons. F**k off you dog," one man responded.

They were a couple of the many tense scenes captured by the camera crews, including a bare-knuckle boxing fight and a man brandishing a crowbar in broad daylight — which he said was necessary to protect himself.

The Little Malop St mall is the same shopping centre where a woman was allegedly filmed attacking an elderly pensioner and throwing her to the ground.

Cori Glencross, 23, allegedly assaulted Judith Green, 75, while she was waiting at a bus stop at Market Square Shopping Centre in Geelong, Victoria in April.

She allegedly banged Ms Green's walker against a bin, yanked her hair, pulled her to the ground and kicked her twice in footage captured by a shocked onlooker.

She has been charged with affray, unlawful assault, assault by kicking and committing an indictable offence while out on bail.

Mr Lyons said shoppers were now scared to head to the mall and it should be knocked down.

"This is a blight on Australia … The publicity that comes out of this, you know, what do you think people think?" he said.

"Bring the bulldozers in tomorrow, that's what I would do."

However, police told A Current Affair that Geelong was a safe place to live despite the scenes of madness.

"We've increased our police presence in the area, not only with uniformed police," Superintendent Craig Gillard said.

"We've got plain-clothed police, we've had them on horses, on pushbikes, and we also have our PSOs (protective services officers) working there now."

He said arrest rates had gone up 15 per cent in the past 12 months — and added police were refusing to "shy away" from the serious offences.