Ballarat woman caught up in brawl outside of Ballarat CBD supermarket

An innocent bystander was reportedly hit in the head with a glass bottle thrown during an incident involving more than 15 adults outside Coles supermarket on Peel Street on Monday afternoon.

By the time police arrived, about 1.30pm, all parties had dispersed, so no arrests were made.

Stay-at-home mum Sam Robinson was caught up in the incident while trying to enter the store to buy some lamb chops for dinner.

Ms Robinson told The Courier she could tell something was brewing when she saw a man "come running out of the car park" and "attack" another man.

Recovering from a recent hip replacement, she tried to "hobble" past the two men "punching on on the road" as quickly as she could. But it was then that "all the other people around started throwing stuff".

"It kicked off way more than I thought," she said.

"A bottle hit me in the side of the head and I just kept going, into Coles, in shock.

"When I came out 20 minutes later, there were no police.

"Other people were hiding in Coles, too scared to go out."

Ms Robinson said the incident had made her too afraid to return to that supermarket as it felt like "taking your life into your hands".

She feared the impression such incidents would give first-time visitors to Ballarat and questioned why more was not being done to prevent them.

"It's absolutely ridiculous," Ms Robinson said.

"Someone's got to do something."

Shopkeepers in the area confirmed incidents of this kind were "all too regular" and welcomed any extra police help they could get.

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Police patrols were said to have ramped up in recent months in response to antisocial behaviour at and around the nearby Little Bridge Street bus interchange.

Traders met multiple times with government and police representatives to discuss the issues, and a special police operation over the Easter school holidays included the deployment of the Public Order Response Team.

Mounted police rode through Bridge Mall, the Coles car park and Little Bridge Street at the beginning of May, with the Bridge Mall Business Association telling The Courier at the time: "Victoria Police has been doing all they can to help the area".

But those close to Monday's incident said the problems were "without a doubt, not going away".

"Between the mall and the bus stop, there's a bit of work being done, but more [police] presence isn't going to go astray," one retailer said.

"We [shopkeepers] can't move people on ourselves - all we can do is notify police."

A Victoria Police spokesperson said police had received no complaints about the brawl and that no victims had come forward.

The spokesperson did not comment on the possibility of extra police resourcing for the area.

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