Places of worship in Camden, Croydon, Southwark, Lewisham, Newham, Westminster, City of London, Hackney and Wandsworth will receive the grants.

English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund is pledging more than �15m to support conservation work in 160 listed places of worship in England.

The national launch on Thursday was at All Saints church in Camden, north London, which has been given �114,000.

LONDON CHURCH GRANTS St Mary Magdalene, Croydon - �102,000 St Giles, Southwark - �111,000 St Mary The Virgin, Lewisham - �64,000 St Mary, Newham - �71,000 All Hallows By the Tower, City of London - �25,000 St Gabriel, Westminster - �362,000 Holy Trinity, Wandsworth - �70,000 St John Of Jerusalem, Hackney - �57,000 All Saints church, Camden - �114,000

Since 2002, �118m in grant aid has been awarded to more than 1,000 Grade I and II historic places of worship for building repairs.

But English Heritage says the scheme remains heavily oversubscribed, with twice as many applications each year as can be funded.

The majority of recipients this year are Anglican churches, but there are also buildings belonging to other denominations and faiths.

These include Roman Catholic, Methodist and Orthodox churches, together with an historic synagogue.

Paddy Pugh, English Heritage Planning and Development Director for London, said: "Places of worship are the architectural wonders of our landscape and play a significant role in our communities.

"These grants provide essential help to these time-worn treasures, many of which are only maintained through the hard work of small and hard-pressed communities."

Father George Zafirakos, priest-in-charge at All Saints, said: "We are delighted that English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund have been able to help us, especially as this year marks our 60th anniversary.

"This church is not only a beautiful treasure, but also a living focal point for London's Greek Cypriot community."

The nine churches in London will receive a total of �976,000.