The twin Anglo-Saxon monasteries of St Paul's Church in Jarrow and St Peter's at Wearmouth, Sunderland, have been selected as the UK's nomination for World Heritage Site status in 2010.

Jarrow MP Stephen Hepburn has secured the backing of Heritage Minister Barbara Follett for the bid and has also arranged for her to meet a delegation from Jarrow keen to press the case home.

Mr Hepburn was given the double pledge during question time in the House of Commons.

He said: "I am very pleased the minister will meet our delegation backing the bid for the monasteries of St Paul's Church in Jarrow and St Peter's Church in Wearmouth for World Heritage Site status.

"The potential rewards for our area are huge. World Heritage Site status will undoubtedly raise the profile of the sites and the north east, while attracting more visitors and boosting the local economy."

Mr Hepburn, who recently signed a replica of the seventh century Book of Life at Bede's World in Jarrow in support of the bid, added: "As all Jarrovians know, it isn't the building, so much as its previous tenant – St Bede, one of the world's greatest scholars and inventors, who lit up the Dark Ages and made Jarrow into one of the leading places of learning in the world."

Jarrow and Wearmouth were both home to the Venerable Bede, who lived from 673 to 735 and is known as the father of English history.