A café owner was forced to shut up shop for three days after bungling council officials erected a fairground ride just inches from his window . Paul Meakin , 31 , turned up to work on Monday to find the huge structure blocking the entrance to his family-run cafe in Grantham , Lincolnshire . Workers had positioned the carousel-style attraction so close to the front door that it could not even be fully opened . Taken for a ride : A café owner in Grantham , Lincolnshire , was forced to shut up shop for three days after the local council put up a fairground carousel ride just inches from his shop window . Sandwiched in : Workers had positioned the carousel-style attraction so close to the front door of Cafe Leo that it could not even be fully opened . And even though the council apparently agreed the positioning was rather inconvenient , officials said it would be impossible to move - because it had already been set up for the event . Mr Meakin now has to wait until tomorrow , the end of the local Mid-Lent Fair , to re-open the cafe . He said : 'What customer wants to sit having a coffee and look out the window at the back end of a giant fairground ride . It was just really inconsiderate to say the least . 'Everybody thought we were closed anyway . You could n't get anywhere near the shop really . It was unbelievable . 'It was literally 3ft away from the window . Who could ever think that was a good idea ? ' Mr Meakin , who runs the cafe with wife Jessica , said the 'barmy ' decision forced him to close the cafe , a move which he said cost his business at least £1,000 . Clear view : Mr Meakin could barely see out of the window after the ride was put up directly outside the cafe . Prettier sight : The area where Mr Meakin usually puts tables and chairs ( pictured ) for al fresco diners was also completely taken over . He claimed the ride had so badly obstructed the view that the entire premises was plunged into darkness . And the area where Mr Meakin usually puts tables and chairs for al fresco diners was also completely taken over by the attraction . He added : ' I had no choice but to close on health and safety grounds . Takings are down over a £1,000 at least . 'My worry was if we had to evacuate a hoard of people would just have been blocked off by a ride and a lamppost . 'The council just do n't seem to consider small local businesses here . It was a barmy decision . ' Baffled : Paul Meakin , 31 , pictured with his wife and business partner Jessica , said he had to close the business for most of the week , a move which cost him around £1,000 in profit . Mr Meakin was forced to close the café early on Monday afternoon . It remained closed all day Tuesday , Wednesday and today . He is due to reopen tomorrow , once the fair has ended . He said : 'The ride position was just not acceptable so we left it until the council came back and had a proper look . 'When somebody from the council came they agreed and said it 's unacceptable so I do n't know how someone could have said it was before . ' I used to get nervous about the fair coming but because the past few years it 's been the same ride it did n't cause me any concern . Even though South Kesteven District Council agreed the ride ( pictured in use at the fair ) had been positioned incorrectly , Mr Meakin said officials said it would be impossible to move - because it had already been set up . 'In terms of compensation the council said they would just look into it . 'We asked to see copies of the risk assessments so we knew we were n't liable if anything happened but they said they could n't provide them . ' He added : 'We have been here for four years and it 's been the same ride every year but it 's been in a sensible place . Regular customer Frank Rhimes , 66 , said : 'Somebody at the council needs their heads examining . ' I could n't believe it when I turned up for my daily coffee and saw this massive ride looming over the shop . It just makes you wonder who makes these kind of decisions . ' A South Kesteven District Council spokeswoman said : 'We are facilitating a solution between the showman responsible for the ride and the cafe owner . '
Paul Meakin arrived at work on Monday to find huge ride blocking entrance . He said he was told the ride had been removed and that a new one would be installed in its place.